Built in 1868. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
“The Potter and Barker Grain Elevator is a historic grain elevator located at 1N298 La Fox Road in La Fox, Illinois. It is situated next to the La Fox station.”
Wikipedia article Potter and Barker Grain Elevator, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 86 National Register listings published here for Kane County · listed in 2016 · category: Structure · built in 1868.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service
This property stands in Blackberry Township. History of Kane County, Ill., published 1908 gives that township a chapter of its own.
The chapter covers the township.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Blackberry Township - 1,749 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Potter and Barker Grain Elevator between 2013 and 2014, burning about 34 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/undetermined | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 June 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-615 |
| 1 June 2014 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 15 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-0548 |
| 28 May 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-536 |
| 7 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-343 |
| 7 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-345 |
| 6 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-332 |
| 10 November 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2013-1070 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Potter and Barker Grain Elevator: 2 producers, 1 plant, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bald Mound Pit, Site #5 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Elburn Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| Elburn Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Highland Avenue Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names La Fox, the town this property stands in, in 7 storm reports between 2011 and 2026: 6 thunderstorm wind, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Fox | - | Trees were reported down and blocking the road at Keslinger and Harley Roads near La Fox. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Fox | - | Corn was flattened near Main St just west of Bunker Rd southeast of Elburn. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Fox | - | A corridor of significant tree damage occurred on the far west side of St. Charles where trees were snapped or uprooted and numerous tree limbs were blown down, roughly between Campton Hills Road and Route 38. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Fox | - | Utility poles were blown down near Loretta Drive. Numerous trees were blown down into roadways. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Fox | - | A seven inch diameter river birch tree was snapped along Shannon Boulevard. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | La Fox | - | Winds to 65 mph were measured with an anemometer. A tree was blown down on Beith Road. |
| June 2025 | Hail | La Fox | - | no account filed |
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.
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 | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Garfield Farm and Tavern | 1.8 miles | 1978 |
 | Stearns-Wadsworth House | 2.9 miles | 1982 |
 | Camptown Town Hall | 3.3 miles | 1980 |
 | Durant House | 4.3 miles | 1976 |
 | Geneva Country Day School | 4.7 miles | 1989 |
 | Riverbank Laboratories | 5.1 miles | 2003 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 16000899 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Kane County | All 86 listed properties in this county. |
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