Salem Historic District (New York)
The Salem Historic District is an ensemble of 79 historic buildings on Main Street ( New York State Route 22 ) and Broadway ( Washington County Routes 30 and 153) in Salem , New York . The historic district has an area of almost nine hectares .
69 of the district's 79 buildings date from the 19th century, the rest from the early 20th century. Some of them represent important developments in the history of Salem, possibly the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the county and one of the first localities in the state to be incorporated . The buildings that survived a devastating fire in 1840 are relatively intact. The historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
geography
The historic district is cruciform. It includes all properties on both sides of Main Street between the tracks of the former Delaware and Hudson Railroad at the north end and Park Place at the south end. The level crossing on County Route 30 forms the western border on Broadway, the former Courthouse closes the district off to the east. An area of 200 feet on either side of the two streets is part of the district.
The areas on Main Street and East Broadway are densely built. Commercial use predominates in the center; this thins towards the edges with its more residential houses. On County Route 153, the western section of Broadway, the development is thinner, with tall trees separating the County Courthouse Complex and Salem High School.
history
Salem was settled around 1761 by three men who had come here from Pelham . The Village is thus one of the earliest white immigrant settlements in the county. The Abrams Building is located on North Main Street in place of the long- defunct log cabins . The three men brought their families to join them three years later and were granted rights to 25,000 acres by the colonial governor after promising to give two colonial government officials half of the land that was then Charlotte County . which later became Washington County.
These two officials sold their half to an Irish clergyman who had brought himself and his parishioners to North America to avoid religious persecution. This was followed by a schoolhouse and church, both the first of their kind in the county and one of two north of Albany .
Shortly after the start of the American Revolutionary War , General Philip Schuyler ordered the evacuation of the city in 1777 when John Burgoyne's troops advanced into the area as part of the Saratoga campaign . Some of the local men stayed behind and dismantled the school house to build Fort Salem from the logs on the site of today's First Presbyterian Church on East Broadway. This fortress was set on fire in September 1777 by a local loyalist .
A local resident, John Williams, built up a regiment of local irregulars. He was eventually called up to serve as a colonel and retired as a brigadier general after the war ended. He built a big house on what is now East Broadway. For many years this house was the largest and most magnificent house in town.
The oldest existing house in town is Judge Blanchard's home on East Broadway. It is the only one in Salem that shows the influence of Georgian architecture that was common before the War of Independence. It is a wooden post construction on a raised base, the window picture is symmetrical and has a Palladinian window above the entrance . It was built in 1790, before the Federal Style emerged , exemplified by the Judge McLean House with its elliptical skylight and side windows at the entrance a little further down the street.
The following year, the Washington Academy formally became the state's sixth school. Salem was incorporated as the Village in 1803 and eight years later a new schoolhouse was built on West Broadway, which was followed by several new buildings over time.
Many other early buildings in the village were destroyed by fire in 1840. One consequence of this fire was the construction of the Proudfit Building at the intersection of Broadway and Main Street to house the administration offices, the library, the theater and the fire and police stations. The construction used US $ 10,000 , which a local bank director bequeathed to the village for the purpose, provided that the village raised funds in the same amount. The Proudfit family contributed around half of the missing sum and that is why the building was named in honor of this family.
In 1939 the school district was reformed and centralized. The former school houses in the center of Salem were converted into apartments and a new school was built on the site of the former residence of the Williams family.
Outstanding individual structures
- Judge Blanchard House , East Broadway. The house, which dates from the 1790s, is the oldest still in existence in the village.
- First Presbyterian Church , East Broadway. The church with the portico and its Doric columns is one of the best neoclassical buildings in Salem.
- Proudfit Building , West Broadway and South Main Street. The building with its brick and stucco facade, built in 1890, serves as the town hall, public library and theater. It has been the center of Salem since it was built.
- Proudfit-Sherman House , East Broadway. Like the First Presbyterian Church, the neoclassical house has a portico, but this is provided with Ionic columns.
- Washington County Courthouse , West Broadway. Apart from the removal of the bell tower, the ornate brick building is largely in the same condition in which it was built in 1869.
Monument protection
In 2008 the administration of the village created a monument protection commission in order to preserve the historical character of the district. This committee consists of five members who are appointed by the mayor for a term of three years. Two of them must be residents of the historic district and one member must have experience in monument protection as an architect. A member must be a historian. This committee takes care of all building work and renovations in the outdoor area for which a building permit is required. The committee can also investigate the historic district and propose the classification of other structures as local monuments.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e William Cormier: National Register of Historic Places nomination, Salem Historic District ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . March 31, 1975. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
- ↑ Historic Preservation Law ( English , PDF; 47 kB) Village of Salem. January 9, 2008. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
Coordinates: 43 ° 10 ′ 20 " N , 73 ° 19 ′ 38" W.