The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) announced recommendations by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation to add 23 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The nominations include an octagonal circus house in Cortland County, an intact Catskills mountain lodge in Ulster County, a railroad focused historic district in Clinton County, and the legendary Holcombe Rucker Park Basketball Court in New York City.
OPRHP Commissioner Kathy Moser said, “This round of nominations reflects the many ways New Yorkers have shaped and cared for their communities, from public housing for veterans, families, and seniors to historic downtowns, neighborhoods, transportation hubs, and basketball courts that document generations of community life. Through the State and National Registers, new research continues to deepen our understanding of New York’s history by expanding and updating historic districts and bringing previously overlooked resources into the story. This work helps ensure that the places we recognize reflect the diverse history and experiences of New Yorkers.”
The nominations were reviewed September 9, 2026, at a meeting of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation.
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.
OPRHP Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation Daniel Mackay said, “Each of these nominations adds important context to our understanding of New York’s architectural, social, cultural, and economic history. By bringing forward new information and recognizing a broader range of historic resources, the State and National Registers can better reflect New York’s full history while connecting communities and property owners with resources to support preservation and continued use.”
New York State continues to lead the nation in the use of historic tax credits, with $9.6 billion in total rehabilitation costs from 2019-2025. Since 2006, the historic tax credit program has stimulated over $16.4 billion in project expenditures in New York State, creating significant investment and new jobs. According to a report, between 2019 and 2023, the credits in New York State generated 91,386 jobs and over $1.79 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 131,000 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.
Michael J. Day Apartments and Daniel P. Quinn Apartments, Abram Hilton Apartments, Eugene Hanratta Apartments; Watervliet, Albany County ─ The Day, Quinn, Hilton, and Hanratta Apartments are four public housing complexes in the city of Watervliet that were part of the city’s program to house veterans, low-income families, and senior citizens in the decades following World War II. The Watervliet Housing Authority (WHA) was established in 1952 in response to World War II veterans returning to the city and in need of jobs and affordable housing. The WHA used funding from federal housing acts intended to assist in slum clearance and urban development to acquire former canal lands and construct housing for these groups. After repeated delays, the first complex, the Michael J. Day Apartments, was completed in 1959, largely housing families. The WHA’s second project, the Abram Hilton Apartments, completed in 1961, addressed the need for elderly housing for the first time, reserving half of its units for seniors. Continued demand for elderly housing prompted construction of the Daniel P. Quinn Apartments in 1966, built next to the Day complex as the city’s first all-senior housing. Finally, development of Watervliet’s sole urban renewal project required rehousing another group of senior citizens, leading to construction of the Eugene Hanratta Apartments, Watervliet’s most sophisticated senior housing, in 1974. The four complexes embody the themes that define the WHA’s public housing program: dedication to providing assistance to blue-collar veterans, especially those who didn’t qualify for other VA programs, such as mortgage assistance; remembrance of the families of the disabled or those whose soldiers did not return; and an increasing focus on providing housing for senior citizens as its population aged. The former canal lands provided sites that were within the city grid and close to shopping, religious and civic buildings
James Plaza, Syracuse, Onondaga County ─ James Plaza is a well-preserved example of an interwar garden apartment complex designed in the Tudor Revival style. Completed in 1928 by architect and builder Maynicke Munn Pattison, the complex reflects Syracuse’s suburban expansion along James Street and the early twentieth-century conversion of rural land to residential development. Its coordinated courtyard plan, landscape design by Edgar R. Herzog, and Tudor Revival detailing reflect the characteristics of the garden apartment type as it developed during the late 1920s. Integrated garage facilities reflect the increasing importance of automobiles in suburban housing. James Plaza retains its courtyard plan, architectural detailing, and landscape design.
Sig Sautelle Circus House, Homer, Cortland County ─ The Sig Sautelle Circus House is associated with George Satterlee, also known as Sautelle, one of New York’s great circus producers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sautelle lived in the octagonal house from its construction in 1902 until 1914, during the height of his career, when his “Nine Big Shows” traveled by rail from Maine to Florida and west to Kentucky and Indiana. This house is the only surviving building that represents Sig Sautelle’s association with the American circus. The building is also a notable late example of the octagon house type with remarkably intact pressed metal-adorned interiors. Nearly every major room in the house features pressed metal dados, wall panels, and ceilings in a variety of Neoclassical, Rococo, Gothic Revival, Tudor Revival, and Aesthetic Movement patterns, preserving a distinctive reflection of turn-of-the-century tastes.
Bank of Geneva, Geneva, Ontario County ─ Built in 1831, the Bank of Geneva is one of New York State’s earliest surviving Classical temple-form bank buildings and is closely associated with Geneva’s commercial and women’s history. It housed the city’s earliest and longest-lived banking institution until 1864 and later, from 1885 to circa 1903, served as the headquarters of Rosecoe G. Chase & Co., the region’s largest Victorian-era nurseries, shipping hundreds of thousands of ornamental and edible plants across the nation. In 1904, undertakers Kennedy & Kennedy purchased the building and added a large rear room to accommodate large funerals. The first space of its kind in Geneva, this addition indicated a shift to larger ceremonies made possible by the era’s improved embalming techniques. In 1921, the Geneva Woman’s Club and the Business Women’s Club (which it would later absorb) purchased the building for civic, dramatic, and social activities. A successor to the women’s suffrage organization, the Geneva Political Equity Club, the Geneva Woman’s Club continued to use the building through 2025, making it a longstanding center of women’s civic life.
Village of Hammondsport Historic District (Boundary Extension), Steuben County ─ Following the 2024 National Register listing of the Village of Hammondsport Historic District, additional research identified two residences on the north side of the village built within the district’s period of significance: 2 Pulteney Street, built in 1862, and 14 Pulteney Street, built in 1876, for inclusion in an 8.03-acre district expansion. The two surviving residences were owned and lived in by grape vineyardists and farmers, with deep ties to the rest of the village and to the wine industry. The expansion documents the village’s growth due to the economic success of the local winemaking industry, recognizes two additional examples of the Victorian architecture locally marking that era, and notes the loss of other historic residences once located on the surrounding parcels.
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Clifton Springs, Ontario County ─ Known locally as “The Church on the Hill,” St. John’s Episcopal Church has been a religious and architectural fixture of the Clifton Springs community since the nineteenth century. While the congregation formed in 1807, this permanent home was not completed until 1883. The New York City architectural firm building of William Appleton Potter and Robert Henderson Robertson designed the building, which the B.B. Dean Company of Buffalo constructed from local Medina sandstone in a striking style that combines Richardsonian Romanesque and Gothic Revival elements. The multi-colored stonework, prominent belltower, carved stone details, and stained-glass windows make this a distinguished landmark.
Alcyone Masonic Temple, Northport, Suffolk County ─ Home to Alcyone Lodge No. 695, the Alcyone Masonic Temple has been a center of Northport’s fraternal, social, and civic life, reflecting the village’s growth and the prominent role of its community leaders from the late nineteenth through the twentieth centuries. The establishment of the Masonic Temple symbolized an era of advancement and development for Northport village, marking a point at which civically minded village residents widely support spaces to fraternize and come together for the continued advancement of the village. The Alcyone Lodge has bet in the temple since its original construction in 1875. In 1923, the Alcyone Masonic Temple underwent a major expansion and stylistic modernization, modifying its original Second Empire design with a modern, vertically oriented composition, reflective of early Art Deco design principles. Today it has the distinction as the oldest continuously operating Masonic temple on Long Island.
Forstmann Castle, Denning, Ulster County ─ Located within the Catskill Mountains, Forstmann Castle is an intact early twentieth century eccentric mountain lodge. Built between 1915 and 1916 for wool magnate Julius Forstmann, the retreat reflected his German heritage and combined a rural residence with a working farm, pastures, barns, livestock, and a deer farm. The home served as a refuge for Forstmann, who likely chose the Catskills for their proximity to New York City and his company in New Jersey, as well as the availability of land to construct a working farm with barns, livestock, pastures and crop fields, and a deer farm. The three- and four-story, multi-volume lodge is clad in cobblestones and shingles and was likely constructed using German masons and carpenters specifically hired by Forstmann. The interior features coffered ceilings, nail-less wood floors of various types, original and ornate metal hardware, and imposing stone fireplaces.
First Presbyterian Church of Marlborough, Marlborough, Ulster County ─ The First Presbyterian Church of Marlborough is an intact late-nineteenth century masonry church in the Romanesque Revival style. Designed by New York-born architect John A. (J.A.) Wood, the church was constructed in 1870 to replace the congregation’s former church building, which was destroyed by fire in 1868. The decision to construct the church in a rural interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style reflects a larger wave of Protestant churches constructed throughout New York and New England in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The building retains much of its original fabric and architectural integrity with the exception of the original steeple, which was destroyed by fire and replaced with a copper spire in 1916.
Holcombe Rucker Park Basketball Court, Manhattan, New York County ─ The Holcombe Rucker Park basketball court, now known as the Greg Marius Court, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, is nationally significant as the permanent home of the Rucker Tournament, an annual summer basketball league first created to provide educational opportunities for African American youth. Founded by New York City civil servant Holcombe Rucker, the tournament began in 1946 on playground courts in Harlem and gained national recognition and influenced the sport of basketball at the collegiate and professional levels during the second half of the twentieth century. As Black basketball players entered collegiate and professional leagues in the 1960s and 70s, they transformed the sport by bringing African American playground and street basketball styles and techniques developed by legends such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, and Earl Monroe in the Rucker Tournament. These players also brought the racial and class politics of Harlem with them, refusing to conform to a white sports establishment. The Rucker Tournament was revitalized in the mid-1980s when it merged with Harlem native and rap musician Greg Marius’s Entertainers Basketball Classic (EBC). The EBC’s melding of playground basketball with hip-hop music directly influenced the National Basketball Association’s adoption of hip-hop style and aesthetics, further cementing the Rucker Park basketball court as a national symbol of basketball prowess.
The Headquarters of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York, Manhattan, New York County ─ Located at 215 E 71st Street in New York City, the Headquarters of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York (NSCDNY) is an excellent example of the Colonial Revival style and a notable example of the work of architect Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1879-1933), considered a leading specialist in the Colonial Revival idiom. Dana’s passion for early American architecture allowed him to blend Georgian, Colonial, and Federal styles into balanced and proportioned compositions. The building also reflects the history of the NSCDNY, a women’s patriotic and genealogical society founded following America’s renewed interest in its colonial past after the nation’s centennial in 1876. The NSCDNY is dedicated to the celebration and stewardship of colonial American history and sites. Today, the building continues to serve as the NSCDNY administrative center, provides social spaces for its membership, and acts as a semi-public museum of America’s colonial past.
Seward Park Extension Houses, Manhattan, New York County ─ Completed in 1972, the Seward Park Extension Houses, located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, embody the implementation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through New York City’s public housing system. One of the first six developments proposed under the New York City Housing Authority’s federally mandated scatter-site program, the project sought to disperse public housing beyond areas of racial concentration and into middle-class neighborhoods. Designed by William F. Pedersen & Associates, the Lower East Side development was part of the Seward Park Extension urban renewal area. Its distinctive Brutalist architecture attempted to demonstrate that bold architecture was possible even within the limited budgets of public housing.
Waddington Historic District Boundary Amendment and Additional Documentation, Waddington, St. Lawrence County ─ Originally listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 with 11 historic resources along Main Street, this boundary amendment and additional documentation reflects historians’ evolving understanding of how communities develop to encompass broader inclusion of vernacular architecture and the effects of large-scale destructive projects such as the St. Lawrence Seaway. Buildings that were not yet fifty years old in 1992 have since reached an age of eligibility, further supporting the district’s expansion. The expanded district adds 130 contributing resources across a 60-acre area comprising the core of the village of Waddington. The nomination describes the evolution of Waddington from its deliberate inception and gridiron plan, as conceived by the wealthy Ogden family, into a thriving industrial community devastated by the construction of the Seaway. The district includes a mix of residential, civic, commercial, educational, and religious architecture conveying a wide variety of architecture styles from circa 1805 to 1954.
Plattsburgh United Methodist Church, Plattsburgh, St. Lawrence County ─ Plattsburgh United Methodist Church is an intact Midcentury Modern church in northeastern New York. Designed by William Prescott of Philadelphia’s architecture firm Howell Lewis Shay & Associates, the imposing one-story church balances a striking A-frame sanctuary with a one-story wing intended for community and public outreach. Plattsburgh United Methodist also served as an experimental training ground where Prescott implemented new architectural materials such as Tectum and Kalwall paneling. The church has been in continuous use and largely unchanged since its completion in 1958.
Lyons Falls School, Lyons Falls, Lewis County ─ Built by Utica architect Linn Kinne between 1927 and 1928, the Lyons Falls School is the community’s largest public building and its only surviving local non-residential example of Colonial Revival style architecture. Community labor, donated trucks from the Gould Paper Company, and a donated electrical clock helped bring project budget in well below the cost of what most contemporary state-of-the-art schools of the era cost. The school features unidirectional natural lighting in classrooms intended to ease strain on pupils’ eyes, wide corridors for easy circulation in everyday and emergency situations, and fireproof materials throughout. The school accommodated kindergarten through twelfth grade instruction from 1928 to 1963. During this period, classes were taught in combined year blocks with biannually rotating subject matter. Specialized spaces were also allotted for science, industrial arts, home economics, typing, and business. The gymnasium served as a hub for school assemblies and community activities.
Mooers Junction Historic District, Clinton County ─ Located in the Town of Mooers, the three-acre historic district consists of the Mooers Junction train station, a freight house, a coal shed, a caboose from the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, and a Fairmount inspection car. The district was a strategic rail junction from 1856 until 1961, linking the Champlain Valley with New England, the Great Lakes, New York City and Canada. The convergence of east-west and north-south rail corridors at Mooers Junction transformed a rural agricultural settlement into a vital transportation hub for Clinton County and the broader U.S – Canada border region. Passengers, mail, express freight, agricultural products, timber, coal, grain, and manufactured goods moved through this junction.
Broad Street-Main Street Historic District (Boundary Amendment), Norwich, Chenango County ─ Comprised of commercial, civic, educational, and religious buildings and intervening parks, the Broad Street-Main Street Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1975. Noted for its association with Norwich’s development in the nineteenth century as the county seat of Chenango, the district maintains an overall appearance reflective of its past as a smaller urban community and civic center in the northeast. This boundary amendment recognizes changes occurring in the twentieth century as Norwich evolved by updating the existing 1975 National Register and extending documentation to include buildings of similar architectural merit. The amendment adds new descriptions, 28 additional resources, and additional context for the growth and development of Norwich, along with a more thorough account of the history of the Broad Street-Main Street District. The district retains numerous excellent examples of popular architectural styles used for commercial, civic and religious architecture at various points in the city’s development, including Greek Revival, Italianate, and Midcentury Modern. The majority of the buildings remain in excellent condition despite modifications reflecting continued use over time.
The Log House, Clarence, Erie County ─ The Log House is the oldest of three surviving two-story log houses in Clarence, the first town established in Erie County, and ties its history to the phase of settlement immediately following the Holland Land Company purchase. The builders of the Log House are unknown, but the area exhibits log construction techniques from Pennsylvanian German, Scotch-Irish, and Seneca cultures. While log buildings defined the early period of Western New York’s settlement, by 1875 they represented only 1 percent of the county’s buildings. American and European settlers often viewed these buildings as temporary and once lumber milling was established, communities transitioned to frame buildings. However, the Log House’s large size and use of dovetailed corner timbering demonstrate that its builders intended it as a more permanent structure.
Limerick School and Hall, Newstead, Erie County ─ The Limerick School is the last surviving property associated with the former industrial community of Limerick. Established in 1869 within a small but economically significant cement-producing region, the school served as both an educational institution and a central social and civic space. Following the closure of the Cummings Cement Company in 1908, the surrounding industrial landscape deteriorated, and its associated buildings were dismantled or lost. Despite this, the schoolhouse remained in operation into the 1950s, when members of the Limerick Home Bureau successfully advocated for its retention as a community center. Today, it represents the most tangible link to the social, economic, and cultural patterns that defined the Limerick community from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries.
Shoreline Apartments Complex, Buffalo, Erie County ─ Built between 1970 and 1972, the Shoreline Apartments Complex is an important example of a Brutalist public housing complex designed by internationally renowned architect Paul Rudolph. Popular from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, Brutalism is defined by repetitive forms, monolithic massing, the absence of decoration, and an appearance of weightiness usually achieved through concrete. The twelve two-to-three-story corduroy concrete apartments are interconnected by attached shed rooflines and breezeways and feature square balconies and enclosed concrete courtyards that add a Cubist influence to the primarily Brutalist form of the buildings. This complex is one of few surviving public housing projects designed by Rudolph and the only low-rise example. Embattled by popular vitriol for Brutalist buildings and sharp cuts in public housing funding during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many of his buildings, including portions of the Shoreline Apartments Complex, have been lost to demolition.
East Aurora Downtown Historic District, East Aurora, Erie County ─ The East Aurora Downtown Historic District features a distinctive collection of buildings associated with the nineteenth and twentieth century retail, wholesale, and service economy of the region. The district includes grocery, hardware, clothing, wholesale, medical and dental offices, veterinary hospital, barber, and other businesses, as well as the regionally known Vidler’s five-and-dime. Notable historic resources include two grain elevator and feed mill businesses, a brick building that served as the cheese warehouse for Richardson-Beebe Company Dairy Products, a 1920s Mission Revival Mobil Oil station, two historic banks, and the Globe Hotel, parts of which date to the 1820s. The historic office of the East Aurora Advertiser, around since the 1880s, reflects the district’s longstanding role as a business and civic center. Together, these resources document the evolution of downtown East Aurora as a commercial hub in Erie County.
