John C. Cowing House, Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Significance: The John C. Cowing House exemplifies balloon frame construction, which originated in Chicago in the early 1830s and contributed to the rapid settlement of the west. Little skill, time, or money was needed to erect such a structure...

The house was originally built in about 1855 in Peotone Township for a farmer, John C. Cowing. in 1976 a small portion of the house was disassembled and later reassembled within the Museum of American History in Washington D.C. The reassembly was completed in March 1977. Today the House appears in varying states of completion, rather than as it would have looked at any one stage of its construction or remodeling.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-78
Survey number: HABS DC-473