The William A. Leet/Frederiek H. Hassler Farmstead District is locally significant under Criteria A and C for its historical significance as a representative of an innovative and progressive early twentieth-century Poland China purebred hog operation and for the architectural significance of its Craftsman-style house and garage that reflect William Leet's wealth and fashionable tastes and of the gambrel-roofed barn, and the tile block hog house, chicken house, scale house and boar house all associated with the purebred hog operation. All of these buildings and structures are contributing to the farmstead district, with the only non-contributing structure being a 1943 corncrib. Also contributing to the district are the four fieldstone objects, including two planters, a birdbath, and a fishpond, that grace the front and side yards of the house and date from the Leet's occupation. The period of significance for the district is from 1916-1936 encompassing the initial establishment of this farmstead by William Leet, who owned this property from late in 1915 until 1918, and the heyday of the "Fashion Herd" Poland China Hog operation of Frederick Hassler dating from c.1918-1936. Hassler first worked for Leet from 1915-c.1918 and then owned the farmstead between 1918-1936. Significant dates are 1916 when the house and garage were constructed and 1917 when the barn was built.

The farmstead property is situated on the northern portions of Lot .1 of the NWI/4, NWI/4, and Lot 3 of the NEI/4, NWl/4 of Section 21, T82N-R36W, Carroll County, Iowa. The entire faun property encompassed 40 acres, with 3.74 acres of set aside for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad right-of-way in 1881. The Milwaukee grade was partially returned to agricultural land, although the route is still discernible south of the farmstead proper. The actual farmstead district, however, encompasses 4.4 acres north of the old railroad grade and comprising the northeast quarter of the original farm property.

The Leet family began their association with the property in March 1902 when Frank M. Leet and Anna Boysen, Frank's sister, purchased via a warranty deed the NW 1/4 of Section 21 and "other land" from Louis Jansen and his wife (Property Abstract). Leet and Boysen, in turn, immediately transferred the warranty deed to John F. Liken who retained possession until July 10, 1905, when Lida Leet, Frank's widow, and Helen C. and William A. Leet, Frank and Lida's children, obtained the property by warranty deed from Liken and his wife. Frank Leet was a banker in Audubon, Iowa, and died intestate on April 6, 1905. At that time, Helen and Lida were living in Douglas County, Nebraska, while William was living in Fremont County, Wyoming. On March 5, 1909, a lawsuit was filed in the Carroll County District Court wherein William Leet by Asmus Boysen, his guardian, was seeking to divide the estate into equal 1/3 interests and filing against his mother and sister. Asmus Boysen was Frank Leet's brother-in-law and was also ii the banking business in Audubon. The suit was settled and on November 29, 1915, Lida Leet transferred her interest in the NW 1 /4 of Section 21 to William A. Leet via a warranty deed. This marked the beginning of the history of the farmstead proper, with William Leet building the house and garage shortly thereafter (Property Abstract; Erwin Hansen, personal communication 1997).

By 1916, William was married to Ann. R. (full last name unknown), and on July 14, 1916, the Leets entered into an agreement with Iowa Light, Heat & Power for a right-of-way to "locate and operate a transmission line upon and across the NWl/4 of Section 21 along the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad right-of-way" (Property Abstract). As part of a consideration of $1 and "other valuable consideration," the power company agreed "to furnish said William A. Leet, his heirs, grantees or lessees with electric current from said transmission line at the same price as paid by the Citizens of Manning, Iowa, for said current" (ibid.). What is noteworthy about this agreement, is that it is known that the extant house and garage were wired for electricity at an early date, probably as part of the original construction plan. This agreement would indicate that this connection was made in 1916.

On October 25, 1916, William Leet deeded the NW I/4 of Section 21 to Lida Leet subject to a first mortgage of $30,000, with Ann Leet quit-claiming her interest in the property to Lida Leet on March 31, 1917. The oral history associated with this property indicates that William Leet built the house and garage as something of a country estate where he would live in an ostentatious style befitting both his then-wealth and personality. The design and construction of both buildings reflects his wealth and personal style being designed in one of the more popular architectural styles of the day, the Craftsman style of architecture, and incorporating expensive fixtures and appointments such as the imported tiles in the fireplace and the Arts-and- light fixtures on the porch and the interior of the house. This was a house that was meant to impress as was the three-bay automobile garage with upper servant's quarters. Such a large garage for automobiles at this early date was a lavish and pretentious expense. This lavishness appears to have been his undoing. Leet reportedly squandered his money and lost both his country estate and his wife in the process. Ann and William were in divorce proceedings from December 1916 until November 1917 when the divorce was finally granted. The divorce settlement for Ann was a sizable sum for the day further adding to William's financial woes.

Fred H. Hassler began his history with this property in 1915, while working for William Leet as manager of the Leet farm holdings in Section 21. With the failure of Leet's marriage and his financial problems, the property came into Hassler's actual ownership. On January 19, 1918, Lida Leet conveyed the W1/2, NWl/4 and part of the NEI/4, NWl/4 of Section 21 to Hassler for $100 and "other valuable consideration." Hassler and his wife, Glenna M. Babcock, acquired a mortgage of $8000 from D.W. Sutherland on the WI/2, NW114 of Section 21 on January 21, 1918. In February of that same year, the Hasslers acquired a mortgage of $8500 on the WI/2, NW1/4 and part of the NEl/4, NW I/4 from Lida Leet. Interestingly, the property abstract then indicates that Lida Leet quit-claimed all of Section 21 to William A. Leet on March 20, 1918, and on March 27, 1919 (originally filed September 28, 1918), William Leet and Martha (his second wife) as well as Lida Leet conveyed the entire NW 1/4 to Fred Hassler for a consideration of $1. Hassler then surveyed and filed a homestead plat for the 40-acre parcel on February 25, 1924.

The tile block and plank frame barn was built in 1917 under Leet's ownership but during Hassler's management and probable occupation of the property. The barn was innovative for the day in both its truss design and its use of tile block and concrete in the construction of the barn and the prefabricated window ventilators and side-wall hay track mechanism that were manufactured by the Louden Machinery Company of Fairfield, Iowa. This barn was also meant to be a showpiece of the farmstead and was a good advertisement for Hassler's "Fashion Herd" of Poland China Hogs. Added to this were the series of tile block outbuildings including a scale house and a house for Hassler's prize boar. In total, these farm buildings presented a very progressive and prosperous face to the public and reflected the fame and prosperity, for a time, of Hassler's operation.

However, in the midst of the Great Depression, Fred Hassler was unable to maintain the farm operation and sold the property to Chris Pfoltner on December 16, 1936, for $18,000. According to Hassler's granddaughter, .he had more than one farming operation in the area and had to consolidate his holdings during the Depression (Marsha Blanford, personal communication 1998). Hassler then moved into Manning where lie operated the first state liquor store, organized the Liberty Finance Company with Erwin H. Hansen, and worked for a time for ManCryCo Farms just east of town (Erwin Hansen, personal communication 1997).

Chris Pfoltner and his wife, Amanda, sold the farm property to Johannes Bunz for $17,000 on January 30, 1945. Bunz and his wife, Augusta, did not retain the property long selling it to Henry C. Anthony for $17,000 on March 7, 1946. Anthony and his wife, Emma, retained the property until May 13, 1961, when it was sold to Loretta Sextro for $33,000. Loretta died on January 19, 1993, when she was then living in California. In 1994, the property was conveyed to E.L.B. Ltd. by her heirs. E.L.B. sold the property to the Manning Community Foundation on October 21, 1996, with the Manning Heritage Foundation becoming the owner of record that same day.