Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

The New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 28 varied properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including an African American community center, industrialist Andrew Carnegie's legacy of New York City libraries, a Hudson Valley golf club established to counter anti-Semitism, and a Catskill site linked to the early history of professional baseball.

"The nominations reflect the incredible diversity of our state, its people, and their stories," said Erik Kulleseid, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "Many people have worked over the years to preserve these places, and securing this recognition will help us to protect and appreciate New York's fascinating history."

State and National Registers listing can assist owners in revitalizing properties, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.

"These latest nominations continue the Division for Historic Preservation's (DHP) commitment to designating and supporting historic sites that represent the histories of our State's diverse population," said Daniel Mackay, Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation at State Parks.

Previous register designations have included African American burial grounds, archeological sites associated with free black communities, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Little Italy, and East Harlem as well as the Dorrance Brooks Square Historic District in Harlem and the Crown Heights and Bedford Historic Districts in Brooklyn.

Other earlier listings of Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions Historic District and the Hamlin Park Historic Districts highlight historic African American neighborhoods in Sag Harbor and Buffalo respectively.

In recent years, the DHP has received three Unrepresented Communities Grant from the National Park Service to support the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project in New York City.  This has resulted in New York leading the nation in listing of sites associated with LGBTQ+ History on the State and National Register.

DHP was also awarded a Underrepresented Communities grant to undertake a survey of historic Puerto Rican casitas in New York City. The National Park Service recently also awarded DHP an African American Civil Rights grant to study a 20^th Century civil rights site in western New York, a project that will likely expand to other Upstate counties.

In cooperation with local and regional preservation advocacy organizations, the DHP is studying Buffalo's traditionally African American eastside neighborhoods and LGBTQ+ sites in Rochester. Both these studies will likely lead to additional State and National Register listings.

The DHP also is advancing designations associated with the role that women have played in shaping our state, from the Suffrage Movement to Women's Liberation.

The DHP approved management plans and provides support to the Michigan Street Heritage Area, which includes the State and National Register listings of the Michigan Street Baptist Church, the home of civil rights leader Rev. J. Edward Nash, and the Colored Musician's Club in Buffalo, a union hall for African American musicians denied representation by established unions in western New York.  

Since the Governor signed legislation to bolster the state's use of rehabilitation tax credits in 2013, the state and federal program has spurred investment of billions of dollars in completed rehabilitations of historic commercial properties and tens of millions invested in owner-occupied historic homes.

The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects, and sites significant in the history, architecture, archaeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are more than 120,000 historic properties 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 Commissioner, who serves as 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.

More information, with photos of the nominations, is available on the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation website https://parks.ny.gov/shpo/national-register/nominations.aspx

Capital District

George Washington Carver Community Center, Schenectady, Schenectady County - Opened in 1970s, this community center in the city's Hamilton Hill neighborhood represents a successful effort by the African American community to provide community-based resources. The construction of the building is rooted in the African American self-help movement that originated in the city in the 1930s.

National Biscuit Company Complex, Albany, Albany County - Dating from the late 19^th century, the former factory represents the growth of the baking industry and the merger of various companies that created the New York Biscuit Company and later the National Biscuit Company, which was subsequently renamed as Nabisco.

William Barnet & Son Shoddy Mill, Rensselaer, Rensselaer County - This former textile recycling mill dates to the early 20^th century and occupies about six acres along the Hudson River shoreline. Closed in 1976 as the industry shifted to southern states, the facility represents an important architectural record of the textile industry in the upper Hudson Valley.

Central New York

General Ice Cream Corporation Factory, Syracuse, Onondaga County - Home to the "Fro-Joy" brand, which later became "Sealtest", this historic factory dates to early 20^th century and includes Art Deco architectural design elements of a locally produced cast-stone product called Onondaga Litholite.

Morrisville Engine House, Morrisville, Madison County - Now a museum, this restored two-story former fire station dates to 1853 and reflects the Greek Revival architectural style. It still contains its original bell.

Sylvester Apartment Building, Syracuse, Onondaga County - Built in 1910, this four-story, 12-unit apartment building was unusual for its time because it was built with fewer units and aimed at affluent middle-class tenants. Still in operation, the renovated and expanded Sylvester helped usher in an era where apartment living in cities became widely accepted by the middle class.

Finger Lakes

Miller Corsets, Inc. Factory, Canandaigua, Ontario County - Currently vacant, this factory was built in 1920 as part of the nation's largest manufacturer of ladies' corsets. During World War II, the plant was converted to make parachutes for bombs and signal flares.

Long Island

Hauppauge Methodist Episcopal Church, Hauppauge, Suffolk County - Established in 1806, the church is the oldest surviving religious building in the hamlet of Hauppauge and includes a historic cemetery that contains founders of the community and military veterans.

Schmidlapp-Humes Estate Historic District, Locust Valley, Nassau County - Encompassing three dozen buildings across 76 acres on Long Island's "Gold Coast," this area surrounds a historic former estate that reflects two successive generations of the same family over the early- to mid-20^th century.

Mid-Hudson

Colden Hill Farm, Montgomery, Orange County - This 30-acre farm started by the Colden family dates to the early 18^th century, and includes a residence built circa 1800 and various farm buildings. During the Revolutionary War, the Coldens were prominent Loyalists, but were able to retain ownership of their land after the war.

Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, Westchester County - Dating from 1914, this Jacobethan Revival-style clubhouse has a course created by renowned designer Albert Warren Tillinghast. The club reflects efforts by Jewish Americans to create their own golf clubs after anti-Semitic prejudice at the time precluded them from joining established clubs.

Shear Homestead, Lagrangeville, Dutchess County - Dating to the early-19^th century, this residence reflects the history of a family of Palatine German immigrants in the Hudson Valley.

Sutherland Cemetery, Bear Market, Dutchess County - Dating to the late 18^th century, this small cemetery contains founding community members and veterans from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Civil War.

Mohawk Valley

Utica Steam and Mohawk Valley Cotton Mill, Utica, Oneida County - This intact mid-19^th century urban industrial textile mill reflects the economic development spurred by the Erie and Chenango canals. It contains five separate mill buildings built between 1847 and 1905. A portion of the complex is now used for apartments, offices and a bookbinding operation.

New York City

Carnegie Libraries of New York City - In 1901, industrialist Andrew Carnegie gave the city $5.2 million to build libraries throughout the city's five boroughs. His largest philanthropic gift to a single city, that funding resulted in construction of 67 libraries during the next three decades. Fifty-two of those libraries remain in use today.

Conrad Voelcker House, Queens - Dating to 1891, this ornate Queen Anne-style residence was the home of Conrad Voelcker, a German immigrant who published a number of German-American newspapers in the United States up until World War I.

New York Public Library/Fort Washington Branch, Manhattan - Built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style in 1914, the library is among the libraries endowed to the city by industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

Holyrood Protestant Episcopal Church, Manhattan - The Gothic-style church dates to 1914, and reflects the growth of the Washington Heights neighborhood in the 20^th century as part of the expansion of subway lines. Currently, the church also serves as a community center in its predominantly-Lantinex neighborhood.

V. Santini Inc. Warehouse, Bronx - The warehouse was built in 1929 for the Santini company, a family-owned business specializing in warehousing, storage, moving and shipping. The warehouse reflects the history of commerce and trade in The Bronx. The building is being converted into a homeless shelter.

North Country

Cedar Lake Methodist Episcopal Church, Cedar Lake, Herkimer County - In continuous use since its construction in 1862, the Greek Revival-style church retains its historic features, including a bell cast in Baltimore bearing the inscription "Let Us All Come to Worship."

Hague Baptist Church, Hague, Warren County - This historic church and parsonage, dating to 1912 in this longtime resort village on Lake George, reflect both Gothic and Bungalow styles as an intact example of rustic architecture used in the Adirondacks during the early 20^th century.

Keene Valley Country Club, Keene, Essex County - Located in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks, this club has been running since 1902 along the east branch of the Ausable River.

North-Sprague Farm (Colonel Aaron North House), Essex, Essex County - Built in the early 19^th century, this timber-framed dwelling represents several families who settled in the Champlain Valley during the post-Revolutionary War periodof.

St. Regis Presbyterian Church, Keeses Mill, Franklin County - Set along Lower St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks, this former Tudor Revival-style church that was built in 1899 reflects rustic Adirondack-inspired Craftsman features incorporated by architect William L. Coulter. Prominent Adirondack developer and hotelier Paul Smith donated the land for the church, which was financed by summer residents living nearby.

Southern Tier

Mountain Athletic Club Grounds, Fleischmanns, Delaware County - This baseball field in this small village opened in 1895 as the home diamond of the Mountain Athletic Club, a private team for the wealthy owners of the Fleischmann Yeast Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Over the next two decades, the team drew thousands of spectators as it fielded an impressive mix of collegiate players, minor league stars, and future and former major leaguers. The Cincinnati Red used the field for pre-season training during that era.

Western New York

Forest Heights Historic District, Jamestown, Chautauqua County - Spread across a ten-street area, this neighborhood reflects a range of architectural styles representing the 1840s to the late 1930s as the city grew and prospered.

South Side Bank of Buffalo, Buffalo, Erie County - Reflecting the 1920s "Sullivanesque" style of architecture common in the Midwest, this small, former  neighborhood bank building retains nearly all of its original features.

Sweeney Estate Historic District, North Tonawanda, Niagara County - An area containing more than 470 buildings represent a distinctive intact example of a residential suburban-style subdivision that developed between 1849 and 1930.

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual parks, historic sites, recreational trails and boat launches, which were visited by a record 77 million people in 2019. A recent university study found that spending by State Parks and its visitors supports $5 billion in output and sales, 54,000 private-sector jobs and more than $2.8 billion in additional state GDP. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit parks.ny.gov, connect on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.