BlockFrom the record
One of 24 National Register listings published here for Harvey County · listed in 1972 · category: Building · built in 1888, Romanesque Revival architecture.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Bethel College Administration Building
Built in 1888 (Romanesque Revival architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. Bethel College campus, North Newton, 67117
- When was it listed? March 1972
- Category. building
- Township. Newton township
- When was it built? 1888
- Architectural style. Romanesque Revival architecture
- National Register reference number. 72000505 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Fires near this property
94 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 94 fires within 5 miles of Bethel College Administration Building between 2015 and 2020, burning about 235 acres in total. None started naturally. 11 were 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 | 32 |
| Debris and open burning | 31 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 11 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 10 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Fireworks | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 September 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 1502539 |
| 5 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
| 30 August 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Harvey County | 1702409 |
| 28 August 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Harvey County | 1702393 |
| 6 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Harvey County | 1701879 |
| 5 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 1916 |
| 5 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 1921 |
| 4 July 2018 | Fireworks | under an acre | Kansas Forest Service | 1910 |
Storms near this property
14 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names North Newton, the town this property stands in, in 14 storm reports between 2003 and 2024: 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 2 hail, 1 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | 1 hurt, $25,000 | Tractor-trailer overturned on I-135 near the North Broadway and First Street exits. The driver's injuries were minor. In addition, one transformer caught fire. It is unknown whether the blaze was caused by lightning or severe thunderstorm winds. Newton Kansan contributed greatly to this narrative. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | $10,000 | Power lines were blown down by 50 to 60 mph winds. |
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | North Newton | $5,000 | Overnight rainfall caused flooding along Sand Creek and Emma creek through the town of Newton. This caused numerous roads to close across town. Three to five inches of rainfall fell overnight. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | $3,000 | A machine shed was destroyed. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | $1,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph carried a sheet metal shed about 25 to 50 yards, and also downed a 4 inch diameter tree limb. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | - | Vehicle accident near US-50 interchange due to storm. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | North Newton | - | A Cocorahs observer 3 miles west northwest of Newton reported 1.58 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | - | The roof of a machine shed was torn off. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | - | There were multiple reports of trees downed or uprooted just northeast of Halstead. The report was received via Twitter. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | North Newton | - | Several roads had to be barricaded across the city due to high water. Travel on the roads is impossible and dangerous. |
| December 2015 | Flood | North Newton | - | Many reports of high water over the low water crossings across the county. A few county roads were closed for this reason. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Newton | - | Some tree limbs were blown out of trees. |
| May 2024 | Hail | North Newton | - | no account filed |
| April 2020 | Hail | North Newton | - | 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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wirkler-Krehbiel House | 0.2 miles | 2015 | |
| David Goerz House | 0.3 miles | 2002 | |
| E.H. Hoag House | 1.6 miles | 2001 | |
 | Santa Fe Depot | 1.7 miles | 1985 |
 | Newton Main Street Historic District II | 1.7 miles | 2003 |
| J.J. Krehbiel and Company Carriage Factory | 1.8 miles | 2010 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 72000505 in Record Group 79. |
| Harvey County | All 24 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.