Bernhard Warkentin Homestead

A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1874. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

From the record

“The Bernhard Warkentin Homestead, also known as Little River Stock Farm or Warkentin Farm, is a historic farm complex on East North Street in Halstead, Kansas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.”
Wikipedia article Bernhard Warkentin Homestead, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 24 National Register listings published here for Harvey County · listed in 1974 · category: District · built in 1874, by John G. Haskell · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Listed as. Warkentin, Bernhard, Homestead - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. N of Halstead, Halstead, 67056
When was it listed? February 1974
Category. district
City. Halstead city
When was it built? 1874
Architect. John G. Haskell
National Register reference number. 74000839 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

37 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 37 fires within 5 miles of Bernhard Warkentin Homestead between 2015 and 2020, burning about 87 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 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	14
Debris and open burning	13
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Arson/incendiarism	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
27 September 2017	Equipment and vehicle use	3.0 acres	Harvey County	18218
5 July 2020	Arson/incendiarism	2.0 acres	Kansas Forest Service	not named
3 July 2017	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.0 acres	Harvey County	93
23 July 2015	Smoking	under an acre	Kansas Forest Service	236
8 June 2020	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Kansas Forest Service	not named
24 June 2017	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Harvey County	83
23 June 2017	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Harvey County	191
16 June 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Kansas Forest Service	not named

Every fire recorded in Harvey County

Storms near this property

60 of 81 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Halstead, the town this property stands in, in 81 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 40 hail, 34 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain, 2 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
May 2007	Flood	Halstead	$1,000,000	Numerous, slow-moving thunderstorms produced 4 to 6 inches of rain across extreme northwest portions of Harvey County from the late afternoon hours on May 23rd, to the early morning hours on May 24th. Excessive runoff from this as well as heavy rainfall upstream across central Kansas caused the Little Arkansas River to flood. Several roads along the Little Arkansas were closed, and some homes and businesses received various magnitudes of flood damage. The Little Arkansas reached record flood stage at Halstead around midday on the 25th, forcing the community to close all three flood gates. Public and private damages suffered across the 7 townships affected were likely around $1 million.
May 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$177,500	Extensive damage occurred across town with numerous large trees down and power poles down. Some roof, fence and vehicle damage was also reported across town from winds estimated between 70 and 80 mph. A local plant had a large door torn from its rail and railroad crossing arms on Main street were damaged. Nearly 500 homes lost power from the storm.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$167,500	Damaging winds estimated around 60 mph caused damage along a path from Halstead to Hesston. Some local businesses in Hesston sustained roof damage. One building had 25 percent of roof ripped away. A nearby business also received damage. Numerous tree limbs were also knocked down in both towns. Homes north and west of Halstead also received serious damage, including destroying a 25 year old barn, and a 100 year old grove of Catalpa trees at one homestead. The damage path was almost a 100 yards wide, snapping poles, overturning grain bins and damaging irrigation pivots along its path.
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$100,000	Widespread tree damage, including many uprooted. One tree, snapping in half at the base, fell onto a garage smashing the roof to "within inches" of a car parked inside. A large tree limb fell onto the northeast corner of a second house inflicting damage to the roof as well as to a fifth wheel trailer parked along side. Two other homes also had large branches and/or uprooted trees fall onto them. One fallen tree punched a hole in the roof of a Mennonite church.
April 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$25,000	A bow echo moved across Harvey County producing wind damage from west of Halstead to several miles east of Newton. The Newton Airport AWOS recorded a 71 mph wind gust. A semi truck was flipped on Interstate 135 just south of Newton.
August 2019	Hail	Halstead	$20,000	Hail of quarter to golf ball size fell in Halstead, damaging car windows.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$20,000	Power lines and tree damage occurred in Halstead from damaging winds. Damage was also reported to railroad crossing gates.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$15,000	Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions suffered storm damage from estimated 60 mph winds, but the severity of the damage is unknown. Consequently, property damage amounts are rough estimates. A power pole was also downed over southwest Harvey County, but the exact location is unknown. Information courtesy of the Newton Kansan.
August 2019	Hail	Halstead	$10,000	Photo from social media showed quarter size hail and a large portion of a tree down in Halstead.
March 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$10,000	Several power lines blown down.
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$10,000	Major tree damage with one shed damaged.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$5,000	A report from social media, showed tree branches down and penny size hail in Halstead.
March 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$5,000	A 20 by 35 foot machine shed was totally destroyed.
March 1993	Hail	Halstead	$5,000	no account filed
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$500	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	$500	no account filed
April 2025	Hail	Halstead	-	A social media report of half dollar sized hail.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	A large tree was knocked down. Winds estimated by surrounding reports.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	A large tree was knocked down at Burmac and 84th Road.
September 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	A railroad crossing arm was snapped with a police officer estimating 75mph wind gusts in Halstead.
September 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	This wind gust was estimated along with tennis ball sized hail.
September 2025	Hail	Halstead	-	Wind gusts up to 60 mph were also reported.
September 2025	Hail	Halstead	-	Golfball sized hail covering most of the ground.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Powerlines were reported down along with some tree damage in the city of Halstead.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Winds five miles northwest of Halstead were initially estimated to be around 60 mph by a trained spotter. Stronger winds were estimated in town with extensive straight line wind damage including several trees downed, parts of roofs and outbuildings damaged based on a storm survey. The most severe damage was on the west side of town to an outbuilding which had collapsed doors ultimately leading to some damage to the roof and wall of the structure.
August 2023	Heavy Rain	Halstead	-	Rainfall in the past 24hours of 2.40 inches.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Tree trunk nearly snapped. Health of tree unknown and of unknown size. Delayed report, time estimated by radar.
November 2022	Heavy Rain	Halstead	-	A Cocorahs observer reported 2.62 inches of rainfall.
June 2022	Hail	Halstead	-	Ping pong ball sized hail and significant tree limbs were reported down.
June 2022	Hail	Halstead	-	Reported from Mping.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Reported from Mping.
June 2022	Heavy Rain	Halstead	-	A trained spotter 4 miles northwest of Halstead reported 1.86 inches of rainfall.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	A mesonet site near Halstead had a 58 mph wind gust.
May 2020	Hail	Halstead	-	Report was relayed via Mping.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Multiple trees downed or uprooted. One tree fell onto a car and power poles were snapped which caused power outages. This was a delayed report. The time of the event was estimated based on radar.
August 2019	Hail	Halstead	-	Hail up to quarter size and winds up to 50 mph were reported in Halstead.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Gusts were estimated from 50-60 mph along with dime-sized hail.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Fourteen to sixteen inch tree limbs were broken off.
March 2017	Hail	Halstead	-	Most of the hail was pea to dime-sized, but a few were quarter-sized.
March 2017	Hail	Halstead	-	There were numerous reports of golf ball-sized hail in Halstead.
May 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Several 2 to 4 inch tree limbs were blown out of trees.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Pea to quarter sized hail was also reported.
June 2016	Hail	Halstead	-	Report was via twitter.
April 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	A trained spotter measured the gust.
December 2015	Flash Flood	Halstead	-	Rapidly running water was rushing across the road at the merger of Emma east and Emma west creeks.
July 2013	Flood	Halstead	-	Halstead and Ridge Roads were flooded between Halstead to Hesston with some stalled cars reported.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Reported by trained spotter.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Reported by trained spotter.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Winds were estimated around 60 mph.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Halstead	-	Downed limbs.
May 1995	Tornado (F0)	Halstead	-	Brief tornado touched down on Harvey and Sedgwick County lines.
September 2025	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
April 2024	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
April 2023	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
March 2017	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
May 2017	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
March 2017	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
June 2016	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
June 2016	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed
May 2014	Hail	Halstead	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Harvey 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

4 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
Bergtholdt House	0.1 miles	1996
Halstead Santa Fe Depot	0.2 miles	2001
US Post Office-Halstead	0.4 miles	1989
Sedgwick Downtown Historic District	7.5 miles	2012

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 74000839 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
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.