Press Release
December 06, 2013
Randy Simons
Dan Keefe
518-486-1868
State Board Recommends 33 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places
The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended the addition of 33 properties, resources and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
"I applaud the owners and stewards of these historic properties for taking part in New York's preservation efforts," said Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "Placing these landmarks on the State and National Registers of Historic Places is an important tool in their long-term survival and helps communities embrace their history and culture."
State and National Register-listing can assist property owners in revitalizing the structures, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.
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. There are 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. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.
Once the recommendations are approved by the state historic preservation officer, the properties are 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.
STATE REVIEW BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS
Albany County
The Albany Felt Company Complex, Menands - the well-preserved 1902 paper mill was home to the world's leading maker of heavyweight industrial felt, critical to paper manufacturing at a time when most of the country's paper was made in the region due to the proximity of wood sources in the Adirondack forests.
Building at 44 Central Avenue, Albany - built ca. 1817 at the intersection of two major overland transportation routes at a location known in the early 19th century as Robison's Point, the commercial building functioned for more than a century as a grain and feed warehouse and store.
Bronx County
St. Anselm's Roman Catholic Church Complex, Bronx - completed in 1917, this excellent example of an uncommon Byzantine style church building, with an attached parochial school, was modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and built to serve a large German immigrant community.
Port Morris Ferry Bridges, Bronx - constructed in 1948 at the 134th Street ferry terminal, the structures were used to hoist ferry boats in and out of the water to assist embarking and disembarking passengers, and built primarily to serve a jail, hospital and emergency veterans housing on Riker's Island and North Brother Island.
Erie County
Houk Manufacturing Company, Buffalo - constructed between 1910 and 1930, the complex was the country's first and largest manufactory for the large scale production of wire wheels for automobiles.
Franklin County
Northbrook Lodge, Paul Smiths - developed beginning in 1919 on Osgood Pond, the camp represents the wealth and prestige of its original owners, the McDougald family of Montreal, Canada, who like many others of their stature, developed seasonal properties in the Adirondack region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Jefferson County
John Losee House, Watertown - built c.1828 for Revolutionary War veteran John Losee, the limestone house exemplifies the traditions of stone building construction in the Black River area.
Kings County
Crown Heights North Historic District, Brooklyn - the district boasts some of Brooklyn's most vivid streetscapes, with distinctively designed and crafted rowhouses, townhouses, two-family houses, freestanding houses, flats, and apartment houses spanning from the mid-late 19th century to the early-mid 20th century.
Madison County
"Hilltop," Dorothy Riester House and Studio, Cazenovia - constructed in 1959-60, the building incorporates elements of sculptor Dorothy Riester's artistic background, including the sculptural concrete fireplace wall, textured barn board interior walls, and a sand cast wall with embossed patterns and imbedded trinkets.
Monroe County
Romanta T. Miller House, Wheatfield - built 1869-1870 for successful farmer, Civil War Veteran and town assessor Romanta Miller, the distinctive brick home was a statement of a family's evolution from its pioneer beginnings in the early 19th century to that of wealthy estate owners by the turn of the 20th century.
New York County
The New York Bible Society Building, New York - constructed in 1920-1921 (now the Swedish Seaman's Church), the neo-Gothic building was home to the second-oldest Bible society established in the United States, providing free Bibles to individuals living in and passing through New York and its harbor.
North Presbyterian Church, New York - the Gothic Revival style church was built in 1904-1905 to accommodate its original congregation in addition to the expected influx of new residents moving to Washington Heights with the completion of a new subway line.
Pioneer Schooner, Pier 16, New York - built in 1885 in Delaware to carry bulk cargos and commodities on the rivers and bays of the Mid-Atlantic, the Pioneer is the only surviving example of a small iron sloop or schooner in the United States.
South Village Historic District, New York - the row houses, tenements, industrial lofts, churches, and other buildings reflect the changing character of life in New York over a period of almost 150 years, since the first affluent Protestant families settled in the area's newly constructed row houses in the early 19th century.
Niagara County
First Presbyterian Church, Niagara Falls - constructed in 1849, the late Gothic Revival church with Romanesque Revival features is the second oldest church and one of the oldest surviving buildings in Niagara Falls.
Onondaga County
Bellevue Country Club, Syracuse - this outstanding, intact example of a returning nines course, completed in 1916, was designed by renowned golf course architect Donald Ross, a Scotsman considered a master course designer from golf's "Golden Age" of design.
Odd Fellows Lodge and Temple, Syracuse - built in 1887 by the Syracuse branch of the fraternal organization Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
South Salina Street Downtown Historic District Expansion, Syracuse - the nomination will expand the previously listed South Salina Street Downtown Historic District (2009) to encompass the commercial core of Syracuse during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Courier Building, Syracuse - built in 1844, it was a commercial building with public hall (Frazee Hall) where public gatherings were held, including an infamous speech by Daniel Webster in support of the Fugitive Slave Law; it also housed the Syracuse Courier newspaper, and the Syracuse Moose Club.
Ontario County
Geneva Downtown Historic District, Geneva - the historic commercial epicenter for Geneva was established in the late 19th and early 20th century close to the shore of Seneca Lake along the current Seneca, Exchange and Castle Streets, taking advantage of transportation routes offered by the network of canals connected to Seneca Lake.
Orange County
The New York, Ontario & Western Middletown Station, Middletown - built 1892-93 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and augmented in 1904 and again in 1920, the building served as a passenger station for the O&W line, as well as the principal offices of the O&W Railroad.
Queens County
Rockaway Courthouse, Rockaway Beach - constructed in 1931 at a time of rapid development of Rockaway Beach, the high-style courthouse served as a local Municipal and Magistrate's Court for thirty years, closing when New York City consolidated its courthouses in 1962.
Sohmer & Co. Piano Factory, Queens - completed in 1886, the German Romanesque Revival style factory was headquarters of an important piano producer that helped contribute to the popularity of pianos in the 19th and early 20th centuries and was part of the late 19th century industrial development of Long Island City.
Temple of Israel Synagogue, Rockaway Beach - built in 1921 to replace an earlier synagogue that was destroyed by fire, Temple of Israel served a robust Jewish community and is representative of the 20th century shift in synagogue design throughout the region to the Classical Revival style.
Rensselaer County
Howard-Odmin-Sherman Farm, Pittstown - the 19th century farmstead includes a house built in 1860 along with a carriage barn, a grain house and another small outbuilding, a bank barn with 20th century additions for a dairy herd, a two-story hen house, and a turkey coop, all surviving in an intact rural setting.
Troy Waste Manufacturing Co., Troy - constructed in 1908 as warehouse and office space for Troy Waste Company, one of the city's leading "shoddy" companies, which processed rags or scraps of existing fabric in short loose fibers for the city's textile industry.
Van Zandt, Jacobs & Company, Troy - built in 1896 at the height of the collar and cuff industry in Troy, the Romanesque Revival mill was occupied by textile companies for nearly a century.
Rockland County
Shadowcliff, Upper Nyack - this example of high-style Neoclassical residential architecture remains largely as built in 1921; since 1957 it has served as the headquarters of the American branch of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an internationally recognized group established at the dawn of the First World War.Saratoga CountyJonesville Cemetery,
Clifton Park - the important example of a rural picturesque cemetery was designed in 1864 by Burton A. Thomas, a land surveyor, civil engineer and landscape architect credited with the design and layout of 25 cemeteries.
Schenectady County
Glenville District No. 5 Schoolhouse, Glenville - known as Green Corners School and built around 1825, the one-story, gable roofed building functioned as a public school for first through eighth grades until it closed in 1946, when enrollment declined due to the increase in centralized school districts.
First Unitarian Society Church, Schenectady - completed in 1961, the church is an exceptional example of modern architecture designed by nationally known architect Edward Durell Stone, and is notable for its central meeting space under a forty-foot dome.
Steuben County
Henry C. Myrtle House, Bath - designed in 1876-79 according to the elegant, artistic ideals favored by late 19th century Victorians, the Myrtle House is an intact representation of a rural working-class farmhouse in the popular Italianate style.
Martin Quick House, Bath - built in 1877-78 for Erie Railroad executive Martin Quick, the fashionable Italianate style residence is representative of the lifestyle of a member of the emerging white-collar professional class at the close of the 19th century.