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Photograph of Roberts Octagon Barn
Photograph by Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Roberts Octagon Barn

Built in 1883. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

From the record

“The Roberts Octagon Barn built in 1883 is an historic octagonal barn located on CR W62 near Sharon Center, Johnson County, Iowa. On June 30, 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.”

Wikipedia article Roberts Octagon Barn, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 96 National Register listings published here for Johnson County · listed in 1986 · category: Building · built in 1883.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. CR W62, Sharon Center, 52240
  • When was it listed? June 1986
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Iowa Round Barns: The Sixty Year Experiment TR
  • Township. Sharon township
  • When was it built? 1883
  • National Register reference number. 86001449 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

6 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Roberts Octagon Barn between 2006 and 2015, burning about 18 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Debris and open burning2
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 June 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
23 April 2015Smoking5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
2 April 2015Debris and open burning2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 April 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 March 2015Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
27 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources2611 ROHRET RD., IOWA CITY, IA, IA

Every fire recorded in Johnson County

Storms near this property

8 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sharon Center, the town this property stands in, in 8 storm reports between 2006 and 2026: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSharon Center$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph damaged a grain elevator, partially ripped off a garage roof, snapped some large tree limbs, and flattened some corn about 4 miles northeast of Frytown, IA which is also known as Williamstown, IA around 700 am CDT July 24.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindSharon Center$50,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph caused widespread wind damage from Sharon Center, IA to Lone Tree, IA between 500 am and 515 am July 21. Numerous trees and utility poles were blown down. Also a sign and awning were damaged at a gas station near Hills, IA.
April 2006Tornado (F1)Sharon Center$20,000Rated F1
July 2024Thunderstorm WindSharon Center-A public report of thunderstorm wind damage.
July 2017Tornado (EF0)Sharon Center-The public reported a brief tornado moving northeast. After touching down, the tornado then lifted and dissipated.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindSharon Center-Some metal was blown off an outbuilding. Time was estimated by radar.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindSharon Center-Corn flattened. Time is estimated based on radar.
March 2026HailSharon Center-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Johnson County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Miller Round Barn2.0 miles1986
First Welsh Congregational Church2.1 miles1977
St. John's Lutheran Church3.0 miles1977
First Johnson County Asylum4.8 miles1978
James McCollister Farmstead6.3 miles1976
Billingsley-Hills House6.4 miles1983

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 86001449 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Johnson CountyAll 96 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.