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Photograph of William Cornell Homestead
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

William Cornell Homestead

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

From the record

“William Cornell Homestead is a historic home located in Butler Township, DeKalb County, Indiana. The house was built about 1863, and is a two-story, L-shaped brick dwelling topped by an octagonal cupola.”

Wikipedia article William Cornell Homestead, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 29 National Register listings published here for DeKalb County · listed in 1973 · 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. Cornell, William, Homestead - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. SW of Auburn off IN 427, Auburn, 46706
  • When was it listed? August 1973
  • Category. building
  • Township. Butler township
  • National Register reference number. 73000015 - 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

586 words

The chapter on Butler Township in History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914 names Auburn. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Among the early pioneers of Butler township were Peter Fair and his two sons, Abram and Charles; Charles F. C. Crouse, George DeLong, and Andrew, Jacob and John Surface. These settlers first came into the township in October. 1834, with a four-horse team and wagon. From Squire Caswell's they were obliged to hew their path ; Caswell's place was in Allen county, beyond Huntertown. Much of the way was too narrow to allow their fourhorse team to pass. In the same year Lewis Holbrook, Lyman Holbrook. Joseph Stroup, Henry and Michael Miller emigrated into the township; and in the spring of 1836 came William Surface, John Gregg and James Bell. Sanford Bassett came in 1838, and John Noel, John C. Clark, John Embry and Henry Fair in '39. In 1841 George Ensley, of Auburn, moved into the township. The Moodys, Works and Hoffmans were also identified with the early growth of the township.

Passage source: History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914.

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 Butler Township - 586 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

1 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of William Cornell Homestead in 2003, burning under an acre 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
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
8 July 2003Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIndiana State Fire Marshal's Officenot named

Every fire recorded in DeKalb County

Mines and quarries near this property

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of William Cornell Homestead: 6 producers, 2 past producers. 6 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Auburn Sand PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Brudi Pit 4Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Canyon Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Hixon Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Indian Springs PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Lampe Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Plant Number 7 NSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Scott PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Storms near this property

43 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Auburn, the town this property stands in, in 43 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 27 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 2 flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 death. 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
August 2011Thunderstorm WindAuburn1 killedLaw enforcement officials reported multiple trees down along 7th Street. One of these trees in the 400 block of 7th Street, fell onto a westbound United Parcel Service truck, striking the driver compartment. The 46 year old male driver was killed instantly.
January 2008FloodAuburn$150,000At least 6 roads were temporarily closed, with many others posted with high water signs, as ditches overflowed and low areas filled. A senior care center was threatened by flood waters coming out of a overflown retention pond. Sandbags were placed to help, but luckily no evacuations were needed. No exact damage figure were available, but are estimated at around $150,000.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindAuburn$20,000Power pole on fire due to a lightning strike. Downed power lines in and around Auburn.
April 1999Thunderstorm WindAuburn$20,000One home had its roof blown off with several large trees and limbs down in town.
March 2025LightningAuburn$15,000Power pole on fire due to a lightning strike.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindAuburn$15,000Photo on Twitter shows a large tree down onto a covered porch. Porch roof collapsed.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindAuburn$10,000Numerous trees were down across the entire county.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindAuburn$8,000Some shingles removed from a roof and a flag pole was snapped 2 feet above the ground.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindAuburn$5,000A mobile home on CR 427 was knocked on its side. Large tree limbs crushed the side of the trailer. A newspaper report stated that a citizens' band radio tower, set in cement, also toppled over and bent across the trailer. At another property across the street several trees were knocked down and two large pine trees were uprooted.
July 2025FloodAuburn$1,000Photo on social media of standing water, estimated to be a few inches deep, throughout a strip mall parking lot.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindAuburn$1,000Tree blown down.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindAuburn-The pubic reported a small tree was blown down.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindAuburn-The public reports a tree is down and blocking the roadway.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindAuburn-The public reports that a tree fell into wires and that both are in the roadway.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Central dispatch relayed a report of a tree being blown down onto a garage on 9th Street in Auburn. No information on the size or health of the tree and no injuries were reported.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindAuburn-The public reported a one to two foot diameter tree snapped and fell onto a house. No fatalities or injuries were reported.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Emergency management officials reported trees and power lines down in Auburn.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Amateur radio operators estimated winds of 50 to 60 mph with several four to five inch tree limbs down.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Law enforcement officials reported multiple tree branches down throughout the east side of Auburn.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Indiana State Police officials reported a semi-trailer rolled over on Interstate 69, at mile marker 129. No injuries were reported, but northbound lanes were closed for several hours.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees down.
June 2008HailAuburn-Trained spotters reported hail up to the size of quarters.
June 2006HailAuburn-Reported 2 miles south of US 6 on county road 19.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindAuburn-4 to 5 inch diameter tree branches down.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Two large trees were blown down.
March 2003Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Tree was blown onto power lines.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Law enforcement reported trees down in Auburn.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindAuburn-A wind gust at DeKalb County Airport was measured at 75 mph. Strong winds split the trunk of a large tree near a house on DeKalb County Road 60, between the DeKalb County Airport and County Road 427. Winds tore the roof off of a barn east of the airport on DeKalb County Road 60 near the Meese Chapel United Methodist Church. Winds also blew down tents that had been set up at Kruse Auction Park in preparation for the Labor Day weekend classic car auction.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Trees down.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Trees and power lines down.
September 1999Thunderstorm WindAuburn-Two trees were reported blown down.
December 1998Thunderstorm WindAuburn-LOTS OF TREE LIMBS WERE BLOWN DOWN.
May 2018HailAuburn-no account filed
June 2006HailAuburn-no account filed
April 2003HailAuburn-no account filed
May 2003HailAuburn-no account filed
May 2000HailAuburn-no account filed
April 1999HailAuburn-no account filed
May 1999HailAuburn-no account filed
May 1998HailAuburn-no account filed
May 1998Tornado (F0)Auburn-no account filed
June 1998HailAuburn-no account filed
June 1994HailAuburn-no account filed

Every storm recorded in DeKalb 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
Henry Shull Farmhouse Inn3.3 miles1983
J.H. Haag House4.2 miles1983
John Wilderson House4.5 miles1983
Charles Lehmback Farmstead4.6 miles1983
Samuel Bevier House4.7 miles1983
Mountz House5.2 miles1979

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 73000015 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
DeKalb CountyAll 29 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.