James Bruce Round Barn

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

From the record

“The James Bruce Round Barn is a round barn located near the Stephenson County, Illinois city of Freeport, United States. The barn was constructed in 1914 by the team of Jeremiah Shaffer and the Haas Brothers, who were responsible for at least a dozen round barns in the area.”
Wikipedia article James Bruce Round Barn, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 16 National Register listings published here for Stephenson County · listed in 1984 · category: Building.

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.
Listed as. Bruce, James, Round Barn - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. S of Freeport, Freeport, 61032
When was it listed? February 1984
Category. building
Also known as. Round Barns in Illinois TR
Township. Florence township
National Register reference number. 84001157 - 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.

The ground it stands on

5,933 words

The chapter on Florence Township in The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880 names Freeport. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The first settler to come into Florence was Conrad Van Brocklin, who removed from Western New York in the fall of 1835, and, after taking some time to explore the country, settled with his family on Section 17, in the month of March, 1836. He erected a cabin but a little distance from" the residence he subsequently occupied, and opened a farm. For some months he was without neighbors, other than those residing at Craine's Grove and Freeport, and was obliged to procure his supplies from Galena and elsewhere.

Passage source: The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880.

During 1838, a number established themselves at Liberty Mills. These were followed by others equally as venturesome and enterprising, including a bachelor named Wickham, William - better known under the pseudonym of " Saw-Log "- - Smith, etc., etc. A Mr. Strong came in about 1839, as also did Sheldon and Russell Scovill, and C. K. Ellis. Anson Babcock came in 1839, but returned to New York for his family before he improved his claim. There were others, doubtless, who emigrated to Florence during this year, but their names cannot be recalled. Mr. Strong remained there for some years, but eventually disposed of his property and departed for Lebanon, Ohio, where he united with the Shakers, it is said. Other of the early comers moved to Freeport, one or two joined the Mormons, and, prior to 1850, when there were some sixty families in the township, comparatively few of those who came at an early day remained.

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 Florence Township - 5,933 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

15 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of James Bruce Round Barn between 2010 and 2020, burning about 6 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	7
Debris and open burning	6
Smoking	2

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
5 May 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	1845
29 May 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	1046
18 May 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	14-0000049
14 May 2013	Smoking	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-0000039
11 May 2020	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	20-0000054
28 April 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	1032
26 April 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	1030
15 April 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	16-0000025

Every fire recorded in Stephenson County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of James Bruce Round Barn: 11 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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.

Site	Commodity	Status
Freeport Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Dwyer Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Freeport City Eng.	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Kutz Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Mills Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
N. Helms Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Nieman Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Stephenson County

Storms near this property

60 of 149 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Freeport, the town this property stands in, in 149 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 91 thunderstorm wind, 27 hail, 12 heavy rain, 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 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$250,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 to 75 mph caused widespread tree and structural damage in the vicinity of Freeport, IL between 630 pm and 655 pm August 4. On Rock City Rd, several trees and branches were blown down as well as a metal storage shed. In addition, twenty-five rows of corn on both sides of the road were flattened. Some buildings on the southwest side of town were damaged. On Fairview Rd, a tree was blown over onto a house. On Edwardsville Rd, some large tree limbs were blown down. A power outage was also observed across the county.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$150,000	Mobile home overturned & limbs down
April 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$100,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph snapped some trees and utility poles in half and ripped some siding off of some houses along Pearl City Rd about 0.25 miles west of Highland Community College on the west side of Freeport, IL around 1155 pm April 5. This report was relayed by Stephenson County SKYNET. In addition, a 40 foot tall pine tree on the 1200 block of Lincoln Boulevard fell onto a house. Several Freeport streets were littered with downed trees, especially hard hit were South High Ave, Lemon Ave, Nursery Ave, Bauch Ave, West Pleasant St, and South Highland Ave. The Freeport Journal Standard also contributed to this report.
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$50,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew a limb down in Freeport, IL around 255 pm CDT August 20. The limb, which was 6 to 8 inches in diameter, fell onto some power lines which in turn caused a house fire. This report was relayed by WREX.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$50,000	8 inch limbs down
June 2009	Lightning	Freeport	$25,000	Lightning struck a Church in Freeport, IL around 945 am June 19.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$25,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down some 12 inch diameter tree limbs and caused structural damage to some buildings along Highway 20 south of Freeport, IL around 3:10 pm June 12.
August 2003	Hail	Freeport	$25,000	no account filed
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$20,000	1 to 3 foot diameter trees were downed during a downburst on the north side of Freeport. One tree fell on a house causing unspecified damage. The Stephenson County Emergency Manager measured 48 knot (55 mph) winds 1 mile south of Freeport. The Freeport Albertus Airport (KFEP) further south of the city measured 46 knot winds during the 1615-1625 CST (2215-2225 UTC) time period.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$15,000	Winds estimated to be 65 mph blew down several large tree limbs down onto power lines in Freeport, IL at 10:20 am June 8. A power outage resulted affecting a part of Freeport. The tree limbs were over six inches in diameter.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$15,000	Winds estimated to be 65 mph blew down several trees onto power lines just southwest of Freeport, IL at 10:20 am June 8. A power outage resulted affecting a part of Freeport.
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$15,000	Severe thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines from Freeport through Cedarville to Rock Grove, including several at the Cedarville Cemetery. Some trees fell onto and blocked Highway 26. At the Dornink Airport in rural Cedarville, 2 hangars were destroyed and a third hangar lost its roof.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$10,000	Trees and power lines were downed by severe thunderstorm wind.
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$8,000	Severe thunderstorm winds downed 8 trees and a traffic signal.
July 2009	Flash Flood	Freeport	$5,000	Heavy rains caused some flash flooding of some streets in Freeport, IL during the late evening hours of July 27. Several traffic signals were disabled.
August 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$5,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down several trees up to a foot in diameter 1 mile east of Freeport, IL at 630 am August 4. In addition, power lines were knocked down.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$5,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down numerous trees and power lines in the vicinity of Freeport, IL around 2:15 pm June 28.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$5,000	6 to 8 inch diameter braches down on some roads in the southwest part of the city. Some partially rotted whole trees also down.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$5,000	Several trees & large limbs down across the city blocking some streets. One tree fell onto a house.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$5,000	Roof partially torn off an apartment building.
October 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$3,000	Downburst leveled several trees 2.5 to 3 feet in diameter along with power lines. The trees were solid but had been weakened by severe storms back in August.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$2,000	trees and power lines down
July 2003	Heavy Rain	Freeport	$2,000	Street flooding
July 2003	Heavy Rain	Freeport	$2,000	Small streams & ditches overflowing
July 2003	Heavy Rain	Freeport	$2,000	Street flooding
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$2,000	no account filed
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$1,000	Several trees were blown down and vents were ripped off a tire store after straight line thunderstorm winds up to 65 mph rushed across the county.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	$250	The local fire department reported a tree branch fell and brought down a power line.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A report of several small branches generally between 1 to 2 inches in diameter down in Freeport was received.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Several 6 to 7 inch diameter tree limbs were knocked down with some blocking a street in southern Freeport for a time. Time estimated by radar.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Trees were blown down in Freeport. Time estimated from radar data.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Several large trees blown down, blocking roads.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Also reported pea size hail for a minute.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Several 4 inch diameter tree branches down. Power lines damaged. Time estimated from radar data.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Tree branches down along with an uprooted hardwood tree. The time is based on radar data.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A public report of a tree down. Time of the event was estimated using radar.
July 2024	Flash Flood	Freeport	-	A public report of street flooding in Freeport.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Law Enforcement reports tree limbs down.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	An 18 inch diameter tree was blown down at Highland Community College.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Several 5 inch or larger tree branches downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Trained spotter estimated 60 mph wind gusts with the thunderstorm.
August 2022	Flash Flood	Freeport	-	The Emergency Manager reported flooded roadways with water over the tops of fire hydrants on some of the streets on the northwest side of the city.
November 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Law Enforcement reported several trees and power lines down in the Freeport Metro area.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	At least one tree reported down in Freeport.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A tree was reported down near the intersection of Illinois 26 and Stephenson Street.
December 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A spotter reported a ten inch diameter tree uprooted and blown against a house.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A large and healthy limb fell onto two parked cars in Freeport.
August 2020	Hail	Freeport	-	Reported in Freeport from a separate supercell before the derecho straight-line wind damage occurred.
March 2019	Flood	Freeport	-	The Pecatonica River at Freeport rose above major flood stage of 16 feet around 545 PM on March 16th and fell back below major flood stage on March 20th around 9 AM. The river crested at 17.3 feet around midnight on March 19th. Homes along the Pecatonica River in Freeport needed to be evacuated.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A public report of a 6 inch tree limb down via Twitter. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
May 2019	Hail	Freeport	-	A morning storm produced heavy rain and pea to penny size hail in Stephenson County.
May 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Tree limbs were blown down.
July 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	The county emergency manager reported numerous trees and power lines were down within town.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	The Emergency Manager reported isolated trees down.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	The local law enforcement reported a large tree blown down and was blocking the road on the east side of Freeport.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A trained spotter estimated wind gusts of 60 mph.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A trained spotter estimated wind gusts up to 60 mph.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	A trained spotter reported tree limbs down and power was out in the south portion of Freeport. Winds were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	Winds were estimated at 60 mph and possibly gusting higher.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Freeport	-	The Emergency Manager estimated winds of 55 to 60 MPH.

Every storm recorded in Stephenson 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

5 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.

Property	Distance	Listed
Oscar Taylor House	2.8 miles	1984
Soldiers' Monument	3.5 miles	1998
Stephenson County Courthouse	3.5 miles	1974
Gerald Harbach Round Barn	6.8 miles	1984
Dennis Otte Round Barn	7.2 miles	1984

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 84001157 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Stephenson County	All 16 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.