National Historic Landmarks In New York (state)

This is a list of National Historic Landmarks and comparable other historic sites designated by the U.S. government in the U.S. state of New York. The United States National Historic Landmark (NHL) program operates under the auspices of the National Park Service, and recognizes buildings, structures, objects, sites and districts of resources according to a list of criteria of national significance. There are 277 NHLs in New York state, which is more than 10 percent of all the NHLs nationwide, and the most of any state. (Note its count of 258 for New York has not yet been updated for the departure of U.S.S. ''Edson'', the Lightship ''Nantucket'', the absence of Coast Guard cutter ''Fir'', and the addition of the First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kingston.) The National Park Service also has listed 20 National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Memorials, and other sites as being historic landmarks of national importance, of which 7 are also designated NHLs. All of these historic landmarks are covered in this list.

There are 139 NHLs in upstate New York, 13 on Long Island, and 116 within New York City (NYC). Three counties have ten or more NHLs: New York County (Manhattan) has 86; Westchester County, just north of NYC, has 19; and Erie County in western New York has 10. Twelve other counties have five to nine NHLs, eight have three or four, 27 counties have one or two, and the remaining twelve of the state's 62 counties have none. The first New York NHLs were eight designated on October 9, 1960; the latest was designated on January 13, 2021. The NHLs and other landmarks outside NYC are listed below; the NHLs in NYC are in this companion article.

Seven NHL sites are among the 20 National Park System historic areas in New York state.NHLs that are also NPS areas: upstate Thomas Cole House, Fort Stanwix, Lindenwald, Kate Mullany House, and in NYC African Burial Ground, Hamilton Grange, and Governors Island. The other 13 National Park Service areas are also historic landmark sites of national importance, but are already protected by Federal ownership and administration, so NHL designation is unnecessary. A list of these National Park Service areas that conserve historic sites in New York State is also provided. Finally, three former NHLs in the state are also listed.

Overview

New York State NHLs include ten prehistoric or other archeological sites,The nine archeological sites are: Boston Post Road Historic District, notable for its African American and Indigenous history and high archaeological sensitivities, Ganondagan State Historic Site, Fort Corchaug Archeological Site, Fort Massapeag Archeological Site, Fort Orange Archeological Site, Lamoka site, Mohawk Upper Castle Historic District, Schuyler Flatts, and two in NYC: ( African Burial Ground, and Wards Point Archeological Site). 12 historical Dutch farmhouses, manors, and historic districts,The twelve Dutch home sites are: Bronck House, De Wint House, Fort Crailo, Jean Hasbrouck House, Huguenot Street Historic District, Hurley Historic District, Philipsburg Manor House, Van Alen House, and four in NYC (Conference House, Voorlezer's House, Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead, and Wyckoff House). and 21 architecturally and/or historically important churches or houses of worship.The twenty-one churches or houses of worship are: one of the three buildings in Cobblestone Historic District, Dutch Reformed Church (Newburgh, New York), Dutch Reformed Church (Sleepy Hollow), First Presbyterian Church (Sag Harbor, New York), First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kingston, Harriet Tubman's Thompson AME Zion Church, the Indian Castle Church in Mohawk Upper Castle Historic District, St. Paul's Cathedral (Buffalo), St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Albany, New York), Willard Memorial Chapel-Welch Memorial Hall and 11 in NYC ( Central Synagogue, Church of the Ascension, Eldridge Street Synagogue, Grace Church, New York, Old Quaker Meeting House (Flushing, Queens), Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Church, St. George's Episcopal Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and St. Paul's Chapel). Fully 26 NHLs are primarily military, including 13 fort sites (five standing forts, three fortified houses, and five ruins),The thirteen fort sites include five standing forts: Fort Crown Point, Fort Montgomery (Hudson River), Fort Niagara, Fort Stanwix, and Fort Ticonderoga; three fortified houses: Fort Crailo, Fort Klock, and Fort Johnson; and six ruins: Fort Corchaug Archeological Site, Fort Massapeag Archeological Site, Mohawk Upper Castle Historic District, Fort Orange Archeological Site, and Fort St. Frédéric. five other battlegrounds,The five other battlegrounds are: Bennington Battlefield, Newtown Battlefield, Oriskany Battlefield, Plattsburgh Bay, and Stony Point Battlefield. seven military headquarters, training facilities, arsenals and armories,The seven military support sites are: Washington's Headquarters, Knox's Headquarters, United States Military Academy, Watervliet Arsenal, and three in NYC (69th Regiment Armory, Quarters A, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the Seventh Regiment Armory). and one military shipwreck site.The shipwreck site is Land Tortoise (shipwreck). One of these NHLs is associated with the American Civil War,The military site associated with the Civil War is Watervliet Arsenal. while all the rest of these forts and other military places are associated with the French and Indian War and/or the American Revolutionary War.

There are nine NHL ships, including a warship and a tugboat that served in World War II, one warship that saw combat in the Vietnam War, three sailing boats, two fireboats and a lightvessel.The ten ships are: Edward M. Cotter (fireboat), Modesty (sloop), Nash (tugboat), Priscilla (sloop), USS The Sullivans (DD-537), and five in NYC ( Ambrose (lightship), Firefighter (fireboat), USS ''Intrepid'', and Lettie G. Howard (schooner)). Salient in the list are 24 mansions,The 24 mansions include 17 in the Hudson River valley or otherwise outside NYC: Boston Post Road Historic District, including the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House, Clermont, Jay Gould Estate, E.H. Harriman Estate, John Hartford House, Hyde Hall, Lindenwald, Philipse Manor Hall, John D. Rockefeller Estate, Rose Hill (Fayette), Dr. Oliver Bronson House and Estate, Montgomery Place, Elkanah Watson House, Philip Schuyler Mansion, Sunnyside, Villa Lewaro, and Samuel F. B. Morse House, and seven in NYC: ( Bartow-Pell Mansion, Carnegie Mansion, Pierpont Morgan Library, King Manor, Harry F. Sinclair House, Morris-Jumel Mansion, and Van Cortlandt House). and four sites primarily significant for their architectural landscaping.The four landscaped sites are Springside (Matthew Vassar Estate) and three in NYC: (Central Park, Green-Wood Cemetery, and New York Botanical Garden). Many properties, numbering in the thousands, are contributing or non-contributing structures in the state's nine National Historic Landmark Districts.The nine historic districts are: Boston Post Road Historic District, Chautauqua Historic District, Cobblestone Historic District, Geneseo Historic District, Hudson River Historic District, Huguenot Street Historic District, Hurley Historic District, and two in NYC: Brooklyn Heights Historic District and SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Intellectual accomplishments of New Yorkers are associated with 22 sites, including nine university buildings,The nine university buildings are: Morrill Hall, Main Building (Vassar College), Vassar College Observatory, Nott Memorial Hall, Elihu Root House, and four in NYC: ( Low Memorial Library, Philosophy Hall, Pupin Hall, and Founder's Hall, The Rockefeller University). ten other NHLs associated with inventions, inventors or scientists,The ten inventions and scientists NHLs are: General Electric Research Laboratory, W. & L. E. Gurley Building, James Hall Office, John William Draper House, George Eastman House, Irving Langmuir House, Franklin Hough House, Samuel F. B. Morse House, Jethro Wood House, and one in NYC: ( Bell Laboratories Building). and four engineering landmarks, including two bridges that were once the longest of their types.The four engineering landmarks are: Old Blenheim Bridge, Adams Power Plant Transformer House, and two in NYC: (Brooklyn Bridge and Holland Tunnel). Commercial accomplishments include 11 historic skyscrapers, five of which were once the tallest in the world,The eleven skyscrapers include five that were once the tallest in the world, all in NYC: Flatiron Building, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, Woolworth Building, Chrysler Building, and Empire State Building, and six others: Prudential Building in Buffalo and five in NYC ( Bayard-Condict Building, Daily News Building, Equitable Building, McGraw-Hill Building, and New York Life Building). seven stock exchanges and other buildings important in commercial history,The seven commercial buildings, all in NYC, are: A. T. Stewart Company Store, American Stock Exchange Building, New York Stock Exchange Building, R. H. Macy and Company Store, New York Cotton Exchange, Chamber of Commerce Building, and Tiffany and Company Building. two bank buildings,The two bank buildings are: Troy Savings Bank and New York City's National City Bank Building. five industrial facilities,The five industrial facilities are: Adams Power Plant Transformer House, Harmony Mills, W. & L. E. Gurley Building, Rudolph Oyster House, and one in NYC ( Lorillard Snuff Mill). and three water-based civil engineering works.The three water works are: Croton Aqueduct (Old), Erie Canal National Historic Landmark, and Delaware and Hudson Canal. Two are architectural oddities.The two architectural oddities are Armour-Stiner House and Nott Memorial Hall.

Political and social accomplishments are represented by four former mental care institutions (a legacy of the state's leading role in mental health care),The four mental care institutions are: Utica State Hospital, Buffalo State Hospital, Hudson River State Hospital, and New York State Inebriate Asylum. 14 sites associated with suffragettes or other women leaders,The fourteen sites associated with women leaders are: Susan B. Anthony House, Kate Mullany House, Petrified Sea Gardens, Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, Steepletop, Harriet Tubman House, Villa Lewaro, Vassar College Observatory, and six in NYC ( Alice Austen House, Florence Mills House, Henry Street Settlement, Morris-Jumel Mansion, New York Studio School (building), and Margaret Sanger Clinic). five Underground Railroad or other sites associated with abolitionists,The six abolitionist sites are: Boston Post Road Historic District, site of the Jay Property and John Jay's boyhood home, John Brown Farm and Gravesite, Lemuel Haynes House, Gerrit Smith Estate, Harriet Tubman House, and one in NYC ( Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims). six sites associated with African-American leaders,The six sites later associated with African-American leaders are: Villa Lewaro and five in NYC ( Matthew Henson Residence, James Weldon Johnson Residence, Florence Mills House, New York Amsterdam News Building, and Paul Robeson Home). three sites associated with labor rights,The three labor rights associated sites are: Kate Mullany House, and two in NYC ( Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and Union Square) and four sites associated with other social activism.The four other social activism sites in NYC are: Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site, Henry Street Settlement, Margaret Sanger Clinic, and Stonewall. In addition, there are 21 homes of other national leaders,The twenty-two homes of other national leaders are: Roscoe Conkling House, Millard Fillmore House, Gen. William Floyd House, John Jay Homestead, Boston Post Road Historic District which includes the childhood home of Founding Father John Jay as well as his final resting place Johnson Hall, Lindenwald, Thomas Paine Cottage, Elihu Root House, William Seward House, Gerrit Smith Estate, Top Cottage, Elkanah Watson House, and seven in NYC (Chester A. Arthur House, Ralph Johnson Bunche House, Hamilton Grange National Memorial, King Manor, Alfred E. Smith House, Gen. Winfield Scott House, and Samuel J. Tilden House). and six government buildings that are significant on a national scale.The six government buildings are: New York State Capitol and five in NYC (New York City Hall, New York Surrogate's Court, Third Judicial District Courthouse, Tweed Courthouse, and the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House). Community, arts and entertainment accomplishments represented include two utopian communes,The two utopian communes are Mount Lebanon Shaker Society and Oneida Community Mansion House. the Adirondack Park and four of its Great Camps,The Adirondack Park's four great camps are: Camp Pine Knot, Eagle Island Camp, Sagamore Camp, and Santanoni Preserve. and five other retreat sites.The five other retreats are: Lewis Miller Cottage, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua Historic District, Lake Mohonk Mountain House, Saratoga Spa State Park, and Canfield Casino and Congress Park. No fewer than nine artist homes or studios are landmarked,The nine artist studios are: Frederic E. Church House, Thomas Cole House, Roycroft Campus, Manitoga (Russel Wright Home), Thomas Moran House, William Sidney Mount House, Jackson Pollock House and Studio, and two in NYC ( New York Studio School and Alice Austen House). as well as nine homes of writers and composers.The nine writer/composer sites are: three associated with John Burroughs (Slabsides, Woodchuck Lodge, and John Burroughs' Riverby Study), Edgar Eggleston's Owl's Nest, Edna St. Vincent Millay's Steepletop, Washington Irving's Sunnyside, and four in NYC ( Will Marion Cook House, Duke Ellington House, Claude McKay Residence, and John Philip Sousa House). There are four club buildings, of which two are historical societies,The four clubs are: Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Building, and three in NYC ( Brooklyn Historical Society Building, New York Yacht Club, and Players Club). and eight entertainment venues or sites associated with entertainers.The eight entertainment venues or entertainers are: Canfield Casino and Congress Park, Elephant Hotel, Historic Track, Kleinhans Music Hall, Playland Amusement Park, and three in NYC (Carnegie Hall, Florence Mills House, and Jackie Robinson House). Sixteen others are unique sites that are difficult to classify.The sixteen sites not elsewhere categorized are: Armour-Stiner House, Holland Land Office, Old House, Palisades Interstate Park, and 12 in NYC (Cooper Union, Dakota Apartments, Governors Island, Grand Central Station, Merchants House Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library Main Branch, Plaza Hotel, United Charities Building, Rockefeller Center, and Sailors' Snug Harbor).

Notable architects whose work is represented in the NHLs of the state include: Alexander Jackson Davis (7 sites),Architect Alexander Jackson Davis designed (or contributed to the design of) a mansion in the Boston Post Road Historic District, Dr. Oliver Bronson House and Estate, Dutch Reformed Church (Newburgh, New York), Lyndhurst (Jay Gould Estate), Montgomery Place, Locust Grove (Samuel F. B. Morse House), and Utica Psychiatric Center. Andrew Jackson Downing (2),Andrew Jackson Downing designed Springside (Matthew Vassar Estate) and Utica State Hospital. William West Durant (2),William West Durant designed Camp Pine Knot and Sagamore Camp. Leopold Eidlitz (2),Leopold Eidlitz designed New York State Capitol and Tweed Courthouse. Cass Gilbert (2),Cass Gilbert designed New York Life Building and the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. Henry J. Hardenbergh (2),Henry J. Hardenbergh designed The Dakota and Plaza Hotel. Raymond Hood (3),Raymond Hood designed Daily News Building, McGraw Hill Building, and Rockefeller Center. Philip Hooker (2),Philip Hooker designed Hyde Hall and Roscoe Conkling House. Minard Lafever (7),Minard Lafever designed a mansion within Boston Post Road Historic District, First Presbyterian Church (Sag Harbor), First Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kingston, Old Merchant's House, Rose Hill (Fayette), Sailors Snug Harbor, and St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church. John McComb Jr. (3),John McComb Jr., designed Hamilton Grange, New York City Hall, and Quarters A, Brooklyn Navy Yard. Frederick Law Olmsted (3),Frederick Law Olmsted designed Central Park, Buffalo State Hospital, and Hudson River State Hospital. Isaac G. Perry (2),Isaac G. Perry designed New York State Capitol and New York State Inebriate Asylum. George B. Post (3),George B. Post designed Brooklyn Historical Society Building, New York Stock Exchange Building, and Troy Savings Bank. James Renwick Jr. (4),James Renwick Jr., designed Grace Church, New York, Main Building (Vassar College), New York Stock Exchange Building, and St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Henry Hobson Richardson (2),Henry Hobson Richardson originated the Richardsonian Romanesque style with Buffalo State Hospital and also contributed to the design of New York State Capitol. Louis Sullivan (2),Louis Sullivan designed Prudential Building and Bayard-Condict Building. Richard Upjohn (6),Richard Upjohn designed Church of the Ascension (New York), part of Green-Wood Cemetery, Lindenwald, St. Paul's Cathedral (Buffalo), St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Albany, New York), and Trinity Church. Calvert Vaux (6),Calvert Vaux designed Central Park, Frederic E. Church House, Hudson River State Hospital, Metropolitan Art Museum, Third Judicial District Courthouse, and Samuel J. Tilden House. and Frederick Clarke Withers (2).Frederick Clarke Withers designed Hudson River State Hospital and Third Judicial District Courthouse. The firm McKim, Mead, and White participated in design of at least six buildings later declared to be NHLs.McKim, Mead, and White designed Metropolitan Art Museum, National City Bank Building, Pierpont Morgan Library, Low Memorial Library, Philosophy Hall, and Tiffany and Company Building. It was also that firm's work, Pennsylvania Station, whose pending demolition in 1963 launched a historic preservation movement in New York City and led to creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965.

Current National Historic Landmarks in Upstate and Long Island

The State of New York, exclusive of NYC, is home to 155 of these landmarks, which are tabulated here. Twenty-three of these are also State Historic Sites (SHS), and fourteen are National Park System areas; these designations are indicated in italics.

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Current NHLs in New York City

New York City alone is home to 116 NHLs. The earliest was designated on October 9, 1960; the latest was designated on November 2, 2016. Many of the NHLs in NYC are also landmarked individually or as part of districts by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. See List of New York City Designated Landmarks.

Historic areas in the United States National Park System

National Historic Sites, National Historic Parks, National Memorials, and certain other areas listed in the National Park system are historic landmarks of national importance that are highly protected already, often before the inauguration of the NHL program in 1960. There are 20 of these in New York State. The legislation establishing the National Historic Landmark program does not prevent these from being designated, but in practice these are not often named NHLs ''per se'', due to administrative costs of their nomination and to the low preservation value of designating them.

For the first 16 years of the National Historic Landmarks program, the National Park Service did not consider any sites already within the National Park system for NHL designation, and in fact if an NHL-designated site came into the NPS system it was de-designated.

In New York State, the William Floyd House within the Fire Island National Seashore and Ellis Island within the Statue of Liberty National Monument were both deemed NHL-eligible by the advisory board but were not designated.

It was not until 1977 that a policy was promulgated that would allow for designation of a National Historic Landmark "whose primary significance is not related to its park's purpose". The Jacob Riis House in Queens was de-designated in 1973.

The National Park Service identifies 18 historic sites within national park units in New York State, and lists these together with the NHLs in the state,These are listed on p.114 of ''National Historic Landmarks Survey: List of National Historic Landmarks by State'', referenced above. and there are also two National Historic Sites that are "affiliated areas," receiving National Park Service support but not directly administered by it.The National Park Service provides technical and financial assistance to two "affiliated areas" in New York specifically authorized by Congress: Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site and Thomas Cole National Historic Site. Seven of the 20 were declared National Historic Landmarks, in several instances before receiving the higher protection designation, and retain their NHL standing. Four of these are listed above and three are included within the New York City list of NHLs. The 13 others are:

There are four other National Park Service areas in New York State that do not have historic standing.Non-historic National Park Service areas in New York are: Gateway National Recreation Area (joint with New Jersey), Fire Island National Seashore,
The Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (shared with New Jersey), and the North Country National Scenic Trail, that starts at Crown Point in New York and stretches to North Dakota.

NHLs formerly located in New York

The following Landmarks were located in New York at the time they were declared National Historic Landmarks, but have since moved to other states.

Former NHLs in New York

The following sites in New York were formerly National Historic Landmarks but were delisted.

See also

*Great Camps
* Historic preservation in New York
* New York State Register of Historic Places
* List of National Historic Landmarks by state
*List of National Natural Landmarks in New York
* List of New York State Historic Sites
* List of New York state parks § State historic sites
* National Register of Historic Places listings in New York

Notes

References

External links

* (Note its count of 258 for New York mistakenly includes the absent Coast Guard cutter ''Fir''.)
National Historic Landmarks Program, at National Park Service
* 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of National Historic Landmarks In New York
New York
, National Historic Landmarks in New York
*National Historic Landmarks