Three Finger Lakes landmarks are among 23 properties and districts recommended for addition to the state and national historic registers, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced Thursday.
The local nominees are the Bank of Geneva, St. John's Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs and an expansion of the Village of Hammondsport Historic District.
Three Finger Lakes nominations
The Bank of Geneva, built in 1831, is one of the state's earliest surviving Classical temple-form bank buildings. It housed Geneva's first and longest-operating bank until 1864 and later served as the headquarters of Roscoe G. Chase & Co., a major Victorian-era nursery that shipped ornamental and edible plants nationwide.
Kennedy & Kennedy undertakers bought the building in 1904 and added a large rear room for funerals. In 1921, the Geneva Woman's Club and the Business Women's Club bought it for civic, dramatic and social activities. The Geneva Woman's Club, a successor to the suffrage-era Geneva Political Equity Club, continued using the building through 2025.
The Hammondsport nomination would extend the historic district listed in 2024 by 8.03 acres. The addition includes homes at 2 Pulteney St., built in 1862, and 14 Pulteney St., built in 1876. Both were owned and occupied by grape growers and farmers with ties to the village and the local wine industry, and the state said they preserve additional examples of the Victorian architecture associated with that period.
St. John's Episcopal Church, known locally as the Church on the Hill, has roots in a congregation formed in 1807. Its current Medina sandstone church was completed in 1883 from plans by the New York City firm of William Appleton Potter and Robert Henderson Robertson. State preservation officials highlighted its combination of Richardsonian Romanesque and Gothic Revival elements, along with its multicolored stonework, belltower, carvings and stained-glass windows.
What register status can mean
The state Board for Historic Preservation reviewed the nominations Sept. 9. If approved by the parks commissioner, who serves as the state historic preservation officer, the properties will be placed on the State Register of Historic Places and forwarded to the National Park Service for review for the National Register.
Register listing can help owners pursue preservation programs and services, including matching state grants and federal rehabilitation tax credits. The state said New York recorded $9.6 billion in rehabilitation costs tied to historic tax credits from 2019 through 2025 and more than $16.4 billion in project spending since 2006.
A state report found the credits generated 91,386 jobs and more than $1.79 billion in local, state and federal taxes from 2019 through 2023. More than 131,000 New York properties are listed in the National Register individually or as parts of historic districts.
Parks Commissioner Kathy Moser said the latest group reflects community history through housing, downtowns, neighborhoods, transportation sites and gathering places. Deputy Commissioner Daniel Mackay said the nominations add context to New York's architectural, social, cultural and economic history while connecting communities and property owners with preservation resources.
Nominations span New York
In Central New York, the board recommended James Plaza in Syracuse, a 1928 Tudor Revival garden apartment complex, and the Sig Sautelle Circus House in Homer. The octagonal Cortland County house, built in 1902, is the only surviving building tied to circus producer George Satterlee, who performed as Sig Sautelle, and retains elaborate pressed-metal interiors.
The Capital Region nomination covers four Watervliet public housing complexes developed from 1959 through 1974: the Michael J. Day, Abram Hilton, Daniel P. Quinn and Eugene Hanratta apartments. Together, they document the city's post-World War II effort to house veterans, low-income families and older residents on former canal land.
Other downstate and Hudson Valley recommendations include the Alcyone Masonic Temple in Northport, Forstmann Castle in Denning and the First Presbyterian Church of Marlborough. The New York City nominees are the Holcombe Rucker Park basketball court, the Manhattan headquarters of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York and the Seward Park Extension Houses.
In the North Country, the board recommended an expanded and updated Waddington Historic District, Plattsburgh United Methodist Church, Lyons Falls School and the Mooers Junction Historic District. The Waddington proposal would add 130 contributing resources across about 60 acres, while Mooers Junction documents a rail hub that linked the Champlain Valley with New England, the Great Lakes, New York City and Canada from 1856 to 1961.
The Southern Tier nomination would update and expand Norwich's Broad Street-Main Street Historic District, adding 28 resources and broader documentation of the city's development. The district includes commercial, civic and religious examples of styles ranging from Greek Revival and Italianate to Midcentury Modern.
Western New York nominees include the Log House in Clarence, the Limerick School and Hall in Newstead, Buffalo's Shoreline Apartments Complex and the East Aurora Downtown Historic District. The sites document early settlement, a former cement-producing community, Brutalist public housing and the evolution of a regional commercial center.
The State and National Registers recognize buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant to history, architecture, archaeology and culture. State preservation officials said additional information and photos of the latest nominees are available through the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
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