Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/20/1989
NRHP Listing Date 01/10/1991
NRHP Reference Number 89001899
An example of a prosperous early-20th-century livestock and dairy farm, Walnut Grove Farm was developed by Capt. David Harvey Barger following his purchase of the property in 1890. Barger, who made a fortune in railroads and coal mining, retired to his native Montgomery County to become a gentleman farmer. He built Walnut Grove’s porticoed Georgian Revival mansion in 1910 on the site of an earlier house. Structures added to accommodate his farm operation include a dairy/smokehouse, a farm office, a farm manager’s house, and two frame barns. Away from the main complex is a picturesque stuccoed mill used at one time to produce graham flour, the ingredient of graham crackers, developed as an early health food. The mill, an early-20th-century structure, may incorporate earlier fabric. A mid-19th-century log house is also part of the Walnut Grove Farm district.
Walnut Grove Farm was listed in the registers under the Prehistoric and Historic Resources of Montgomery County MPD.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: June 8, 2022
