New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Carol Ash today accepted the recommendation of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 29 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.
A number of well-known locations that were recommended for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the Fraunces Tavern in New York City- the Spitfire gunboat wreck on Lake Champlain (Essex and Clinton Counties)- the Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District (Cayuga County)- the Rushmore Memorial Library (Orange County)- the Cornell Steamboat Company Machine Shop Building in Kingston- and the 1932 Olympic Bobsled Run in Lake Placid.
The New York State Board for Historic Preservation is an independent panel of experts appointed by the governor. The Board also consists of representatives from the following state organizations: Council of Parks- Council on the Arts- Department of Education- Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation. The function of the Board is to advise and provide recommendations on state and federal preservation programs, including the State and National Registers of Historic Places, to the State Historic Preservation Officer, which in New York is the State Parks Commissioner.
The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. Official recognition helps highlight that state’s heritage and can enhance local preservation efforts. The benefits of listing include eligibility for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. There are nearly 90,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts.
During the nomination process, the State Board submits recommendations to the State Historic Preservation Officer. The properties may be listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register by the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, DC. The State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Interior, jointly administer the national register program.
For more information about the New York State Board for Historic Preservation and the State and National Register programs as well as a complete list of the properties recommended in June, contact the Historic Preservation Field Services Bureau at (518) 237-8643, or visit the state parks web site at www.nysparks.com.
The recommended properties listed by county:
Albany County
1. St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands – the property was acquired in 1867 to accommodate the Albany Dioceses, it is the largest Catholic cemetery in the region.
Cattaraugus County
2. Beardsley / Oliver House, Olean – constructed c. 1890.
Cayuga County
3. Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District, Sherwood – a collection of 24+ buildings and sites associated with numerous social reform movements during the mid- to late 19th century, including abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, women’s rights and education.
Chemung County
4. Jacob Lowman House, Lowman – the farm was acquired in 1792 to Jacob Lowman (1769-1840), early settler, trader, farmer and founder of the hamlet of Lowman.
Cortland County
5. Cortland Free Library, Cortland – early 20th century library building.
Delaware County
6. Rock Valley School, Rock Valley – the one room school building was constructed in 1885 to meet the needs of a substantial population increase.
Dutchess County
7. Pulver – Bird House, Stanfordville – built in 1839 for Stanford farmer Henry Pulver by builder Nathanial Lockwood, Jr., a well known carpenter/builder active in the Hudson Valley.
Erie County
8. Concordia Cemetery, Buffalo – founded in 1859 as a collaborative effort by three German Lutheran churches and represents important aspects of Buffalo’s heritage of German immigration.
9. Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo – built between 1884 and 1886, Trinity Episcopal Church is the second oldest Episcopal congregation in the city.
Essex and Clinton Counties
10. Spitfire, gunboat wreck, Lake Champlain – the shipwreck site represents the last intact vessel of Benedict Arnold’s Revolutionary War fleet from the Battle of Valcour Island and has remained untouched at the bottom of Lake Champlain since 1776.
Essex County
11. 1932 Olympic Bobsled Run, Lake Placid/North Elba – the bobsled run at Mt. Van Hovenberg was one of the prime construction projects for the 1932 Winter Olympics and the first and only one and one half mile long bob run ever designed and built for Olympic competition.
Fulton County
12. Knox Mansion, Johnstown – built in 1898 for the prominent manufacturer Charles P. Knox (Knox Gelatin Company).
Herkimer County
13. South Ann Street – Mill Street Historic District, Little Falls – constructed between 1827 and 1911, the district represents industrial and commercial development that occurred in Little Falls adjacent to the Mohawk River and Erie Canal.
14. General Walter Martin House, Martinsburg – constructed in 1805 as the residence of financier, substantial landowner and civic leader General Walter Martin.
Monroe County
15. East Main Street Armory, Rochester – built in 1904-07 to house a local unit of the New York State National Guard.
New York County
16. Fraunces Tavern – constructed in 1719 and converted to a tavern in 1763 it was here that General George Washington gave his famous farewell speech to his officers on December 4, 1783. The building is a pioneering example of an early preservation movement and restoration project that used the most sophisticated techniques available at the time.
Onondaga County
17. Hotel Syracuse, Syracuse – the hotel was designed by George B. Post & Sons, one of the leading hotel designers of the day- ground was broken for the hotel in 1922 and it opened on August 16, 1924.
Ontario County
18. Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House, Geneva – built in 1888 and equipped with a 9.5″- refracting telescope crafted by the Warner & Swasey Company of Ohio, it is a rare surviving example of a private, mid-size professional observatory.
19. Farmers’ and Merchants’ Bank, Geneva – built ca. 1914-1915, example of early 20th century commercial architecture in Geneva.
Orange County
20. Rushmore Memorial Library, Highland Mills (Town of Woodbury) – constructed in 1923-24 as the first public library in the town of Woodbury and financed by New York City attorney Charles E. Rushmore, recognized for his work in the Black Hill of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was named after him in 1930.
21. Woodlawn Farm, Slate Hill – the earliest section of the house dates to c. 1790-1810 and was subsequently expanded and updated during the course of the 19th century.
Schene
ctady County
22. Enlarged Double Lock No. 23, Old Erie Canal, Rotterdam – constructed in 1841-1842, associated with the transportation history of the Old Erie Canal.
Steuben County
23. Hammondsport Union Free School, Hammondsport – the earliest section of the building was built as a private secondary school in 1858, converted to a public union school in 1875 and was expanded by three additions over the next 38 years.
Suffolk County
24. Jamesport Meeting House, Jamesport – the history of the meeting house dates to 1731, the building dates from 1859 when the original meeting house was rebuilt and served one of the first religious groups established in the town of Riverhead.
25. Brewster House, East Setauket – with a portion dating from c. 1665 and acquired that year by the Reverend Nathaniel Brewster, the first ordained minister in Setauket, the house is the oldest extant house in the town of Brookhaven.
Ulster County
26. Cornell Steamboat Company Machine Shop Building, Kingston – the machine shop was built about 1901 by the Cornell Steamboat Company to accommodate maritime industrial transportation between the Erie Canal and New York City along the Hudson River.
Washington County
27. Town – Hollister Farm, North Granville – first developed by noted educator, author and Freemason Salem Town (1779-1864) and sold to Captain Isaac Hollister in 1833.
Westchester County
28. Hadden – Margolis House, Harrison – the house preserves architectural characteristics that spans three centuries (c. 1750-1930) associated with growth and patterns of settlement in Westchester County.
Wyoming County
29. First Universalist Church of Portageville, Portageville – built in late 1841, the church served as a meeting house.