BlockFrom the record
One of 20 National Register listings published here for Washington County · category: Building.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
Thomas Johnson Polygonal Barn
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The listing
- Listing status. The Park Service records this property as Removed.
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Listed as. Johnson, Thomas, Polygonal Barn - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
- Address. Off IA 114, Wellman, 52356
- Category. building
- Also known as. Iowa Round Barns: The Sixty Year Experiment TR
- Township. Lime Creek township
- National Register reference number. 86001451 - 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
2 since 2009Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Thomas Johnson Polygonal Barn between 2009 and 2014, burning about 49 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 9.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 10 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Mines and quarries near this property
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Thomas Johnson Polygonal Barn: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Wellman Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| West Chester Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Whitstine Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this property
35 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wellman, the town this property stands in, in 35 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 9 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 8 flash flood, 8 flood. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Wellman | $1,000,000 | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in and around Wellman, IA during the morning of August 3. Major flooding was observed on Smith Creek on the south edge of town. County Road W 38 had to be closed due to the flood waters. Much of the town, including the fire station and water treatment plant, was under water. Some residences had 8 to 10 feet of water in their basements. Some water rescues were performed. The flood water was still about a foot deep in parts of town, especially near the fire station, during the late morning hours. |
| June 2010 | Flood | Wellman | $500,000 | Heavy rains during the second and third weeks of June resulted in the English River at Kalona going above the moderate flood stage level of 16 feet on June 12 around 11 pm. It crested above the major flood stage around 19 feet around 7 pm June 15. It fell below the moderate flood stage on the evening of the 17th. It crested for a second time at 16.8 feet at 1 pm June 19. It fell below moderate flood stage the morning of June 20. It rose back above the moderate level on the 23rd, cresting at 17.4 feet at 1 am June 24. It finally fell and stayed below the moderate flood stage level around 2 am June 26. |
| May 2010 | Flood | Wellman | $500,000 | Heavy rains during the second week of May resulted in the English River at Kalona going above the moderate flood stage level of 16 feet on May 13 around 330 am. It crested around 17.2 feet around 1 pm May 13. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 130 pm May 15. |
| August 2010 | Flood | Wellman | $500,000 | no account filed |
| August 2009 | Flood | Wellman | $500,000 | no account filed |
| April 2013 | Flash Flood | Wellman | $250,000 | Several rounds of heavy rain resulted in flash flooding across much of Washington County from the mid morning of April 17 through the early morning of April 18. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Wellman | $250,000 | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding over much of the northern half of Washington County during the early morning of June 15. Highway 218 was closed in both directions near mile marker 74 due to water over the highway and vehicles in water in ditches. Several other county roads including Vine Ave, Ginkgo Ave south of Wellman, 12th Street in Washington, several underpasses in Washington, and 170th Street west of Riverside Rd were closed due to flooding. Some of the county roads were washed out. |
| June 2009 | Flood | Wellman | $250,000 | Heavy rains during the middle of the month resulted in the English River at Kalona going above the moderate flood stage level of 16 feet on June 21st around 930 pm. It crested around 17.64 feet around 6 am on June 22. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 930 pm June 22. |
| June 2008 | Flood | Wellman | $198,000 | no account filed |
| August 2010 | Flash Flood | Wellman | $100,000 | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding of several streets in Washington, IA during the morning of August 10. Some cars were stalled out in the flood waters. In addition, several county roads were closed due to the flood waters. Many of the gravel roads were damaged or washed out. |
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | Wellman | $100,000 | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in Wellman, IA and Kalona, IA during the morning of June 23. Streets and basements were flooded. |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | $20,000 | One home struck by several large trees. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | $15,000 | The local law enforcement reported a roof was off a shed, a garage, and hog and horse structures. Another garage was torn off a house. Trees and power lines were down with one tree down on a road. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | $5,000 | Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some tree limbs and power lines in Wellman, IA at 948 am CDT May 29. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Wellman | - | Public report relayed by law enforcement. The time was estimated from radar data. |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Wellman | - | A tornado developed southwest of Wellman in Washington County, and tracked quickly to the northeast along a patch through the Amish and Frytown areas in Johnson County. The tornado caused damage to homes, outbuildings, and trees. No injuries were reported. Thanks to Washington and Johnson County emergency management for assistance in completing the survey. |
| June 2021 | Hail | Wellman | - | Hail reaching 1.5 in diameter was reported by the public through social media. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Wellman | - | An IFC river gage near 338th Avenue, on the South English River rapidly rose over flood stage due to heavy heavy rain. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | - | The local law enforcement reported some outbuildings. A shed, and a few windows and roofs were damaged. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | - | A local state official reported a tree limb down and was laying across the road in Wellman. |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | - | This was a delayed report. A large tree was downed at a farm near Elm Avenue and 135th street about 2 miles west southwest of Wellman. The tree fell onto a minivan. |
| June 2014 | Flash Flood | Wellman | - | A trained spotter reported Lower Deer Creek out of its banks and flowing over 540th Street. Rainfall for the day was more than 5 inches. |
| June 2014 | Flood | Wellman | - | Heavy rains during the second half of June resulted in the English River at Kalona going above the major flood stage level of 18 feet on June 30 around 955 pm CDT. It crested around 21.65 feet around 645 pm CDT July 2. It fell below the major flood stage level around 615 am CDT July 4. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | - | Trees were downed by strong thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Wellman | - | The Wellman fire station flooded and secondary (gravel) roads were washed out. Time is estimated. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Wellman | - | On highway 22 west of Wellman |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | - | Several large trees blown down, barn on 540th Street Southwest heavily damaged, and corn flattened in spots on Angle Road Southwest. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Hail | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| April 2013 | Flood | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Hail | Wellman | - | no account filed |
| September 2000 | Hail | Wellman | - | no account filed |
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
1 within 8 milesOther 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 | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Pilotburg Church | 2.7 miles | 1996 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 86001451 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Washington County | All 20 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.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- 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.