19185 Akin Rd
Farmington, MN 55024, USA

Farmhouse Italian Villa Minnesota Historic Homes National Registry Stone

This gorgeous yellow hued field stone house was built between 1856-1860 by Daniel F. Akin and is a fine example of the early Italian Villa style in Minnesota and could have been adapted from Andrew Jackson Downing 1850s architecture book. Its quite large for a local farmhouse in a rural community and is beautifully built of local field stone with 24 inch think walls. Since 1885, its location has been used for local weather observations. Akin was born in 1828 in New York and moved to Minnesota in 1856. A graduate of Yale University, Akin worked as a land surveyor until he transitioned into agriculture. Soon his interest turned to scientific farming, as new technologies were discovered. He served as president of the county agricultural society in the 1870s and was one of the first apple growers in Dakota County. Akin also loved meteorology and climatology, conducting weather observations for the Army Signal Corps. When the National Weather Bureau was established in 1891, he continued documenting his observations with the bureau. After his death in 1909, his son and grandson continued the tradition with local observations. (His grandson reported weather results for 60 years!)