New York State Parks Announces 14 Nominations for State and National Registers of Historic Places

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation today announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 14 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places and expand one existing listing. The nominations include a new historic district in Wellsville, a synagogue on Staten Island, an enslaved people’s burial ground in the Bronx, and an LGBTQ Commune in Newfield.

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Pro Tempore Randy Simons said, “With each slate of Register nominations, we elevate new and underexplored stories connected to our communities which enhance our understanding of ourselves and each other. Plus, once on the registers, these historic spaces become eligible for historic preservation programs and incentives – like matching state grants and federal and state historic rehabilitation credits – that can encourage investments that will help guide their futures.”

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation Daniel Mackay said, “Our staff at the Division for Historic Preservation are committed to working with individuals and communities across the state to update and add designations to the State and National Registers. We offer guidance to help preserve and promote these assets for generations to come. Whether projects are connected to individual buildings or part of larger community development initiatives, we invite people to consider how historic preservation can be incorporated into their efforts.”  

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

New York State continues to lead the nation in the use of historic tax credits, with $3.96 billion in total rehabilitation costs from 2018-2022. Since 2009, the historic tax credit program has stimulated over $13 billion in project expenditures in New York State, creating significant investment and new jobs. According to a report, between 2018-2022, the credits in New York State generated 72,918 jobs and over $1.47 billion in local, state, and federal taxes. 

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 126,000 historic properties throughout the state listed in the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities, and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.  

Once recommendations are approved by the Commissioner, who serves as the State Historic Preservation Officer, the properties are listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed by the National Park Service and, once approved, entered in the National Register. More information, with photos of the nominations, is available on the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation website. 

Central 

First Presbyterian Church of Springport, Union Springs, Cayuga County – The First Presbyterian Church of Springport is located in the center of the village of Union Springs in the Town of Springport and is comprised of two sections: the original Greek Revival sanctuary built in 1840 and a rear addition constructed in 1961 for use as offices and Sunday School classrooms. The original sanctuary was built by Farrand Kitchell and designed by area architect John Hagaman. The simple Greek Revival style was popular in the period and was well-suited to the tastes of the Presbyterian congregation. Continually in use as a church from 1840 to 1968, the structure has seen little alteration, retains most of its original fabric and historic context in the community, and is therefore a notably intact example of a rural Greek Revival church from the period. The building is now owned and operated by the Frontenac Historical Society and Museum.

Westcott-University Neighborhood Historic District, Syracuse, Onondaga County – The Westcott-University Neighborhood Historic District is a large, primarily residential district composed of late-1800s and early 1900s residences and supporting commercial buildings. Located east of Syracuse University and Thorndon Park, the urban suburb was originally farmland before Syracuse industrialized. The emergence of a new professional and managerial class in the late 1800s led to the construction of single-family residences on large parcels outside of the city center that were easily accessible to the downtown office district. A new transportation option, the streetcar, helped facilitate the neighborhood’s appeal to middle-class residents. The various housing typologies of the district reflect the periods in which the neighborhood was developed, including Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Craftsman Cottage, and the Bungalow styles.

Finger Lakes 

Nunda Village Historic District, Nunda, Livingston County – The Nunda Village Historic District reflects the history of Nunda from 1831 to 1955. Nunda’s development during this period demonstrates the impact of changing transportation systems and industries during the 1800s and 1900s, as reflected by the construction of early commercial strips along the Farmers’ Exchange and Merchant Row and, later, the Foote Manufacturing Company. Residential areas developed, which supported and were supported by these commercial ventures. They represent a broad array of architectural types popular during this period of significance, including a large core of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne styles built by builder-architects and, later, professionally trained architects.

Wrayholm, Rush, Monroe County – Wrayholm, in the Town of Rush, is a remarkably intact example of a rural estate designed by prominent Rochester architect Claude Bragdon. It is an architect-designed, two-and-one-half story Dutch Colonial Revival style stucco house with red clay tile roof built in 1912 for Delos Hollowell Wray and his wife, Irene Warner Wray. Wrayholm reflects Bragdon’s late-career emphasis on natural materials, a mixture of textured finishes, an abundance of windows, and an emphasis on the connection of interior spaces to nature. It demonstrates the architect’s use of both Arts and Crafts and Modernist design elements.

Mohawk Valley 

Rome Residential Historic District, Rome, Oneida County – Located just north of the city’s commercial core, the layout and architecture of the neighborhood illustrate the changing circumstances and architectural tastes of Rome’s citizens as they capitalized on the city’s proximity to the Erie Canal and built a significant local industrial economy. Developed from approximately 1840-1970, the district’s architectural styles convey popular trends from that period. 

Tuttle-Peck House, New Lisbon, Otsego County – Located in the hamlet of New Lisbon, the Tuttle-Peck House was originally a modest settlement-era house that was augmented and remodeled by two separate owners, Dr. Anson Tuttle and George Clayton Peck. Built ca. 1800, the house was expanded in two phases and reflects the personal taste and economic success of each owner. In both instances, the house was expanded rather than replaced; this “additive” building pattern was common in this rural area during the 1800s.

New York City 

Temple Israel Reform Congregation, Staten Island, Richmond County – Temple Israel Reform Congregation is a distinctly mid-century modern style temple designed by the prolific Jewish architect Percival Goodman (1904-1989). The architectural landmark was constructed from 1961 to 1964 and is home to the first Reform Jewish congregation on Staten Island. It exemplifies the mid-century modern style with its butterfly roof, abstract colored-glass windows, laminated wood beams, and use of concrete. Goodman was one of the most prolific synagogue architects in the United States, designing over fifty synagogues in his career.

Hotel Martinique, New York, New York County – The Hotel Martinique, built between 1897 and 1910, played an important role in the emergence of Herald Square as a key shopping and entertainment hub in New York City. By the 1910s, the area around the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and 34th Street was bustling with large department stores and hotels, attracting a diverse clientele of shoppers and travelers. Designed by renowned architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, the Hotel Martinique exemplifies Beaux-Arts architecture, combining elements of French Renaissance Revival architecture with opulent turn-of-the-century tastes, reflecting the evolving role of luxury hotels in urban life.

Eastchester Houses, Bronx, Bronx County – Eastchester Houses is significant as an intact, representative example of a mid-century public housing complex constructed by the New York City Housing Authority in the outer borough areas of New York City that reflects post-World War II era ideas about architecture and design and illustrates patterns of racism and classism in government housing. After World War II, New York City experienced a housing emergency as thousands of veterans returned from war. NYCHA built public housing complexes in both the city and in the outer boroughs. The NYCHA outer borough complexes featured green space and amenities and were restricted to white veterans and their families. In contrast, Black veterans and minority families were segregated to high-rise tower development projects built in the city’s dense urban neighborhoods, which had limited amenities. Constructed between 1949 and 1950, Eastchester Houses exemplifies a type used by NYCHA for outer borough designs, characterized by mid-rise, red-brick buildings with cruciform plans, minimal ornamentation, and landscaped parcels. Yet they were still conceived as housing for poor people and employed repetitious forms and inferior materials. The complex represents a strong link between the built environment and social history in post-war New York City.  

Joseph Rodman Drake Park and Enslaved People’s Burial Ground, Bronx, Bronx County – Located at the center of the Hunts Point neighborhood in the East Bronx, Joseph Rodman Drake Park (dedicated in 1915) and Enslaved People’s Burial Ground is a New York City Park that contains two colonial-era cemeteries within its bounds: the Hunt-Willett-Leggett Cemetery (established ca. 1720) for those descended from, and associated with, these three early settler families; and an Enslaved People’s Burial Ground (established by the early 1700s) for those enslaved African and Indigenous people forced to labor for these families. Originally created to commemorate early American poet Joseph Rodman Drake and the area’s colonial-era landowners, the site now recognizes enslaved people whose history in the area and final resting place within the park long went unrecognized and remains a tangible reminder of the centrality of enslaved people to the early history of the Bronx and New York City.

North Country 

Ausable Club Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, Keene, Essex County –

The Ausable Club was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as an individual listing that primarily centered around the 1890 Ausable Clubhouse. With the passage of two decades, a broader perspective of the site as a seasonal resort with intact residential cottages has emerged. The new boundary encompasses fifteen additional resources that more fully illustrate how Adirondack resorts in the 1800s often featured auxiliary residences that depended on their associated hotel for meals, laundry, and entertainment.  

Southern Tier 

Lavender Hill Commune, Newfield, Tompkins County – The Lavender Hill commune, located in the town of Newfield, is a rare and exceptionally significant example of a 1970s-era gay, lesbian, and bisexual rural commune in central New York. Deeply rooted in the counterculture and back-to-the-land movements of the 1960s and 1970s and influenced by the emerging gay liberation and Second Wave feminist movements, the Lavender Hill commune was founded in 1973 by a group of white gay, lesbian, and bisexual artists, writers, and political activists who were primarily of Jewish and Italian-American, working-class backgrounds.

Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church Complex, Corning, Steuben County – The St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church Complex is an architecturally distinguished campus built over the course of a half century. In 1913, the recently formed congregation built a combination church and school on the site, which was designed by Haskell & Considine. The complex expanded in 1954 with the construction of a new church building and rectory designed by Joseph P. Flynn. A third building, the convent, was purchased by the parish in 1938 and received a chapel addition around 1973. The complex showcases a blend of architectural styles, from the vernacular Classical and Gothic Revival elements of the original structure to the modernist Gothic Revival church with its attached Modern-style rectory.

Western New York

Little Genesee Schoolhouse/Genesee District No. 1 School, Little Genesee, Allegany County – The Little Genesee Schoolhouse/Genesee District No. 1 School in Little Genesee is a rare surviving example of a two-room, hipped-roof schoolhouse built in 1903 to the design of “Plan No. 10” from the Design for School Houses booklet issued by the New York State Department of Public Instruction in 1887. The building served the educational needs of Little Genesee for nearly thirty years and in 1935, after closure of the school, the building became the new home of the Genesee Library. The library has preserved the Queen Anne style schoolhouse with only minimal changes to the original building.

Village of Wellsville East Historic District, Wellsville, Allegany County – Nestled in the Genesee River Valley, the Village of Wellsville East Historic District encapsulates the growth and development that resulted from the formation of a transportation hub and burgeoning oil industries at Wellsville. The district contains a vibrant commercial core, civic centers, and surrounding historic residences. Buildings in the district represent a variety of architectural styles popular throughout the mid-1800s to mid-1900s, including Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and many examples of more modest and vernacular frame resources.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, which saw a record 84 million visits in 2023. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer app or call 518.474.0456. Join us in celebrating our Centennial throughout 2024, and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and the OPRHP Blog.