The Barn

The Center of this Historic Homestead

Life on the farm in the 1800’s and today

Mr. Charles’ “Bank Barn”

Walnut Grove Farm was homesteaded in the 1830’s and is an example of pioneering spirit of the farmers who settled Knox County, Illinois. In search of land and opportunity, the prairie soil was the source and continues to support the agricultural economy of today’s heartland.

Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places

Deeded to the Charles Family by President Van Buren in 1860, the entire farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 because of its remarkable buildings and its significance to local, state and national history as regional cattle breeding area. The Charles family were not only pioneering farmers but were the policymakers of the community.

A Civil War Era Barn

The size of Walnut Grove Farm’s main bank barn was not only impressive, but unusual for the 1860’s when it is estimated that the barn was actually built. This Civil War Era barn was central to a massive farming operation, during a time when a farmer normally fed his family on 80 acres with a team of horses and had small outbuildings that he and his neighbors built themselves.

The Gathering Place!

In 1987, after our first round of restoration work, we hosted an open house during the Knox County Scenic Drive. Since then, we have hosted yearly festivals, reunions, graduation and birthday parties, and hundreds of weddings. Church functions, Plein-air and Galesburg Civic Art Center events, school field trips, receptions, Tiny Barn Concerts, and the Knox Galesburg Symphony have been part of those who have “sheltered” here. Walnut Grove Farm is an integral part of your national heritage, the community’s pride, and thousands of peoples’ memories.