RECONNAISSANCE -LEVEL SURVEY OF HISTORIC RESOURCES VILLAGE OF FAIRPORT Monroe County, New York Prepared for the Village of Fairport by: Bero Architecture PLLC 32 Winthrop Street Rochester, New York 14607 August 2014 This project is funded by a grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation With additional support from Fairport Office of Community and Economic Development Village of Fairport Bill Poray, Town of Perinton Historian Cover: Dewey Avenue from West Church Street Courtesy Perinton Historical Society, Addis Adams Collection TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................1 Methodology ..................................................................................................................2 Guidelines and Selection Criteria ..................................................................................3 Report Organization .......................................................................................................6 II. HISTORIC OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................9 Introduction ....................................................................................................................9 Location and Natural Environment ................................................................................9 Early Settlement .............................................................................................................9 Canal Boom, 1820s-1850s ...........................................................................................10 Fairport’s Long Industrial Boom Begins, 1850s-1903 ................................................13 Early Twentieth-Century Growth, 1903-1945 .............................................................19 Post-War Fairport, 1945-2000 .....................................................................................23 Fairport in the Twenty-First Century ...........................................................................26 III. EXISTING CONDITIONS AND ARCHITECTURAL OVERVIEW .............................27 Religious Buildings ......................................................................................................29 Commercial Buildings .................................................................................................31 Educational Buildings ..................................................................................................33 Transportation Resources.............................................................................................35 Civic Buildings ............................................................................................................37 Industrial Resources .....................................................................................................39 Residential Buildings ...................................................................................................41 IV. RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................43 National Register Nominations ....................................................................................43 Local Designation ........................................................................................................44 Rehabilitation Incentives .............................................................................................45 Design Guidelines ........................................................................................................46 Historic Districts ..........................................................................................................47 V. ANNOTATED PROPERTY LIST .....................................................................................65 VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................165 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: MAP APPENDIX B: HIGHEST-RATED BUILDINGS IN 2014 SURVEY APPENDIX C: GLOSSARY OF NATIONAL REGISTER TERMS APPENDIX D: WORKING ON THE PAST IN HISTORIC DISTRICTS APPENDIX E: RESUMES OF CHIEF PERSONNEL Village of Fairport Reconnaissance-Level Survey I. INTRODUCTION The Village of Fairport initiated this reconnaissance-level survey to expand upon and update previous survey efforts, in order to identify and evaluate the historic resources located within the Village. The survey was conducted by Katie Eggers Comeau of Bero Architecture PLLC following New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPHRP, also known as SHPO, for the State Historic Preservation Office) standards. A key goal of the project was to update and expand upon a village-wide survey undertaken by the Landmark Society of Western New York in 1976. In 2008-09, the Perinton Historical Society’s Historic Structures Committee documented the condition of 270 buildings and structures identified in the 1976 survey. The Fairport Historic Preservation Commission, established in 2007 when the village adopted a preservation ordinance, has been using documentation from the 1976 and 2008-09 efforts to determine priorities for designation of individual landmarks, and has made notable progress in designating the top-rated buildings from those surveys. The present survey area (See Appendix A, Historic Resources Map) encompasses the entire incorporated Village of Fairport and addresses readily observed buildings, structures, sites and objects constructed prior to 1970. The survey was limited to above-ground historic resources. Prehistoric and historic archaeological sites were outside the scope of this study. Properties that have been designated as local landmarks and/or that were documented in 2008-09 were not researched in detail for this project, but are included in the Annotated Building List in Section V. This survey seeks to address several goals: 1. Identify significant historic resources that were not included in the 1976 survey. This included properties that were not yet 50 years old, properties where incompatible alterations have been reversed since 1976, and properties whose potential importance has come to light since 1976. 2. Compile and organize existing and new survey information as a single resource that can guide the village’s ongoing preservation efforts, as the 1976 survey has done for almost 40 years. 3. Address current SHPO standards, which place more emphasis on establishing important historic themes and less emphasis, in the reconnaissance phase, on detailed documentation of individual properties. 4. Update recommendations from the 1976 survey with respect to historic districts. Bero Architecture PLLC 13230.Fairport Survey.24114.doc 1 Village of Fairport Reconnaissance-Level Survey Methodology Definition and Scope of a Reconnaissance-Level Survey This survey was undertaken following guidelines established by the National Park Service and by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. A reconnaissance-level survey is described by the National Park Service as follows: Reconnaissance may be thought of as a “once over lightly” inspection of an area, most useful for characterizing its resources in general and for developing a basis for deciding how to organize and orient more detailed survey efforts. 1 Reconnaissance-level surveys are sometimes referred to as “windshield surveys,” because they are often conducted by literally driving around a community to observe general patterns of building age, materials, styles, and construction types, and to document those buildings, structures, and neighborhoods that are readily identified as having architectural and/or historic significance. Field observations are supplemented and informed by research focusing on important themes that influenced the community’s growth. Because of the extent of past survey efforts, and because members of the Fairport Historic Preservation Commission volunteered to assist with more in-depth research (see below), this survey went beyond the normal parameters of a reconnaissance-level survey to incorporate some of the more detailed property-specific documentation normally associated with an intensive-level survey; it should not, however, be considered a full intensive-level survey. Methodology: Research In a reconnaissance-level survey, historic research focuses on an overview of community development, in order to identify those important themes that affected the timing, location, type, and style of resources constructed in a community. For example, in villages along the Erie Canal, mid-nineteenth century industry is typically a significant theme, and canalside warehouses and other industrial facilities are common expressions of that theme. For this survey, overview research was largely conducted using the many excellent books and articles written by local historians and supplemented by targeted primary source research. Members of the Fairport Historic Preservation Commission conducted additional research into 1 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Register Bulletin 24: Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning (Washington, D.C.: National Register of Historic Places, 1977, rev. 1985), 12. Bero Architecture PLLC 13230.Fairport Survey.24114.doc 2 Village of Fairport Reconnaissance-Level Survey specific properties, going beyond the usual scope of a reconnaissance-level survey. Properties were selected for this