National and State Registers of Historic Places
Sowers / Crawford Farms Historic District
624 N 100 and 646 N 100 Rd
Overbrook (Douglas County)
Listed in National Register
Oct 10, 2023
Architect: Shoaf,
Category: Agricultural District
Thematic Nomination: Historic Agriculture Related Resources of Kansas
The farmstead consists of 160 acres of land, eleven buildings, and six structures which illustrate the development of rural life in Douglas County, Kansas. The contributing buildings include a National Folk style house, two barns, a carriage house, a poultry house, a horse stable, and a Craftsmen/Bungalow style house. The contributing structures include a stone cellar, dry stacked stone fences, an outhouse, and a grain bin. The nominated property was settled by Mathias and Rebecca (Bowman) Sowers in 1879 and was developed into a successful family operated cattle and livestock farm. The property has been continuously owned and operated as a family farm by descendants of Mathias and Rebecca Sowers. Gerry Coffman and Martha Coffman, their great-great-granddaughters, are the fifth-generation owners. The farmstead is a cohesive collection of farm and rural-residential related structures that demonstrate development-over-time by reflecting the resources and values of a single family over multiple generations, and by incorporating technological changes into the architectural fabric.
