The 1819 Thomas Hickman House is a historical Missouri treasure located at the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center, New Franklin, Mo. One of Missouri's oldest intact brick houses, the Thomas Hickman House, was built in 1819 and stands on the property of the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center (HARC). The Research Center, located in New Franklin, Mo., encompasses more than 600 acres of scenic Missouri River Hills landscape and contains numerous varieties of fruit and nut trees and horticultural plantings. A highlight of the Research Center is the Hickman House, which depicts important aspects of early 19th century agricultural living in Missouri. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The 1,800 square-foot house represents the southern "Georgian" cottage design, a distinctive architectural style that hallmarks the early development of the Boonslick region of Missouri. Thomas Hickman, one of the original settlers of Howard County, was a local businessman who bought the land on which the home rests. The house is just two miles from Old Franklin - the site where William Becknell and his party began the legendary Santa Fe Trail in 1821.
