Hoosick Falls Historic District
Hoosick Falls Historic District is the name of a conservation area in the center of Hoosick Falls in Rensselaer County in New York , United States . It is an area of 3.2 acres mainly on Church and Classic Street and John Street ( New York State Route 22 ) on the south bank of the Hoosick River .
Most of its forty structures have remained essentially intact since they were constructed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. That period was a period of economic prosperity for Hoosick Falls as the mills and factories in the village took advantage of the river and hydropower . The buildings were combined as a Historic District in 1980 and added to the National Register of Historic Places .
geography
The district is roughly shaped like an upside-down L and extends along the three streets that State Route 22 follows in this part of town. It includes properties at 59 and 60 Church Street to the south and a few lots north of Elm Street. Just north of the US Post Office Hoosick Falls , it also includes the west side of Main Street and then the structures on either side of the street near the junction with John Street.
The boundaries of the district follow the south side of Classic Street eastwards to a parcel before the point where State Route 22 turns north over High Street towards Cambridge . From there the border runs north to the river and along its bank west to Church Street. The border runs west on Classic Street and then turns off to include the properties on the west side of the street on the way to the starting point.
There are 40 structures in this area. Many of these are commercial or mixed-use multi-story structures dating from between the 1880s and 1920s; only one building is a modern intruder. Most of the buildings are in the prevailing architectural styles at the time of their construction, especially Italianate and the Second Empire , with a few neo-Georgian buildings from the 20th century in between. The few houses that are used exclusively as residential buildings are mainly built in the Stick Eastlake style of the late 19th century. The open areas are vacant lots or parking spaces.
history
Hoosick Falls was founded by two Connecticut men before the American Revolutionary War . After the war they built a mill on the river and built the first bridge. The place was incorporated in 1827, about half a century after it was founded.
Other New England entrepreneurs came to the town to also set up textile mills on the river. The most famous manufacturer of the place, Walter A. Wood , settled in 1836. He reported in 1853 a mower for patent and produced both mowers and mower . After the Civil War , his company, Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machine Manufactory, moved into an old cotton processing plant on the north side of the river. The company continued to expand and a new factory was built four years later.
Wood's company became one of the leading manufacturers of these products in the world at the turn of the 20th century. At the time of its greatest heyday, the company employed around 2000 residents of the town. Wood himself was twice a district representative in the United States House of Representatives . Wood had the large three-story Wood Block built that dominates the center of Hoosick Falls. Wood's company finally had to cease operations in 1924 because the products were no longer competitive with the motorized machines developed by John Deere .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Robert Powers: National Register of Historic Places nomination, Hoosick Falls Historic District . New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . August 1979. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
Coordinates: 42 ° 54 '5 " N , 73 ° 21' 3" W.