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National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Schuyler

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National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Schuyler National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory 1999 Schuyler Estate Saratoga National Historical Park Table of Contents Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Concurrence Status Geographic Information and Location Map Management Information National Register Information Chronology & Physical History Analysis & Evaluation of Integrity Condition Treatment Bibliography & Supplemental Information Schuyler Estate Saratoga National Historical Park Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Inventory Summary The Cultural Landscapes Inventory Overview: CLI General Information: Purpose and Goals of the CLI The Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI), a comprehensive inventory of all cultural landscapes in the national park system, is one of the most ambitious initiatives of the National Park Service (NPS) Park Cultural Landscapes Program. The CLI is an evaluated inventory of all landscapes having historical significance that are listed on or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, or are otherwise managed as cultural resources through a public planning process and in which the NPS has or plans to acquire any legal interest. The CLI identifies and documents each landscape’s location, size, physical development, condition, landscape characteristics, character-defining features, as well as other valuable information useful to park management. Cultural landscapes become approved CLIs when concurrence with the findings is obtained from the park superintendent and all required data fields are entered into a national database. In addition, for landscapes that are not currently listed on the National Register and/or do not have adequate documentation, concurrence is required from the State Historic Preservation Officer or the Keeper of the National Register. The CLI, like the List of Classified Structures, assists the NPS in its efforts to fulfill the identification and management requirements associated with Section 110(a) of the National Historic Preservation Act, National Park Service Management Policies (2006), and Director’s Order #28: Cultural Resource Management. Since launching the CLI nationwide, the NPS, in response to the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), is required to report information that respond to NPS strategic plan accomplishments. Two GPRA goals are associated with the CLI: bringing certified cultural landscapes into good condition (Goal 1a7) and increasing the number of CLI records that have complete, accurate, and reliable information (Goal 1b2B). Scope of the CLI The information contained within the CLI is gathered from existing secondary sources found in park libraries and archives and at NPS regional offices and centers, as well as through on-site reconnaissance of the existing landscape. The baseline information collected provides a comprehensive look at the historical development and significance of the landscape, placing it in context of the site’s overall significance. Documentation and analysis of the existing landscape identifies character-defining characteristics and features, and allows for an evaluation of the landscape’s overall integrity and an assessment of the landscape’s overall condition. The CLI also provides an illustrative site plan that indicates major features within the inventory unit. Unlike cultural landscape reports, the CLI does not provide management recommendations or Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 1 of 118 Schuyler Estate Saratoga National Historical Park treatment guidelines for the cultural landscape. Inventory Unit Description: The Schuyler Estate of Saratoga NHP encompasses 62.15 acres of the core of Major General Philip Schuyler’s original large, eighteenth-century manor in the present-day Village of Schuylerville, New York. Schuylerville covers approximately one square mile and has a population of about 1400 residents. The village is mostly comprised of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century buildings. The 62.15 acres within the legislative boundary include three NPS-owned parcels that total 30.38 acres and 31.77 acres of state and town owned land that contains remnants of the Old Champlain Canal. The site is located on US Route 4 and sits at the confluence of the Hudson River and Fish Creek. It is approximately forty miles north of Albany, New York and eight miles north of the Saratoga battlefield. Built in 1777, the Schuyler House is a two-story frame structure with a stone foundation. Philip Schuyler (1733-1804) built the house to replace one burned by the British in 1777 after the battles of Saratoga. Lt. General Burgoyne used the previous house after the battles, then ordered it to be destroyed upon his retreat to his camp across Fish Creek. Schuyler operated his thriving country estate from 1763 until his death. The estate included mills, a fishery, barns, agricultural fields, formal gardens and barracks that housed Schuyler’s slaves, servants and workers. Many residents of Saratoga (Schuylerville today) worked for Schuyler. The 1777 Schuyler House, restored to its c.1787-1804 appearance, is the dominant building on the property. There is an attached kitchen at the northeast corner of the house. A privy and a well house are the only other historic buildings that remain on the grounds. Archeological evidence remains from many other historic buildings that once dotted the landscape. The 1960s park residence, comfort station and a modern shed are the only other buildings on the federal land. Small-scale features on the site include a pair of granite hitching posts. A concrete post and split rail fence, an NPS entry sign, an NPS audio/visual interpretive sign, and an NPS informational sign are located on the grounds. A short drive leads visitors from US Route 4 to the parking lot. Stairs carry pedestrians from the lot to a gravel path which curves to the front door of the house and then to a driveway that exits onto Route 4. The origins of this path and driveway may date to the late eighteenth century. A trail follows the driveway in the opposite direction to Schuyler’s Canal Park. The trail roughly follows an old roadway that connected to the Schuylers’ former bridge (bridge no. 59) over the canal. The Schuyler Estate was once clear cut for agricultural and industrial operations. The house commanded the open 3000-acre operation. Today the house lot is more enclosed with many trees growing in the lawn, including many nineteenth-century black locusts. Two old lilacs grow near the house to the south and east. Much of the rest of the land within the legislative boundary is covered with thick successional forest. The state-owned Old Champlain Canal’s earthen prism is engulfed by successional forest. The canal prism has been leveled with fill where it crosses the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) maintenance facility southeast of the house. The NYSDOT maintenance lot is concealed by this forest. A local farmer raises sweet corn on the federal plot east of the maintenance lot. Period of Significance: Cultural Landscapes Inventory Page 2 of 118 Schuyler Estate Saratoga National Historical Park Saratoga NHP is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a district for its association with the American Revolution. Specifically, it is noted as the site of the battles of Saratoga with a period of significance of 1777. The 1777 Schuyler House is also independently eligible for listing on the Register. The documented significance of the property should be amended to include the Schuyler property’s association with General Philip Schuyler, with a period of significance corresponding to his ownership of the property, 1763-1804. Archeological and architectural significance of the property were not evaluated for this CLI. The Old Champlain Canal, a portion of which runs through the Schuyler Estate site and is owned by New York State, is also listed on the National Register, with the period of significance listed as 1823-c.1917. Analysis and Evaluation Summary: Until this time the cultural landscape characteristics and features associated with the Schuyler Estate located within Saratoga National Historical Park had not been evaluated. In addition to those buildings, structures and objects that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this CLI finds that the cultural landscape of the Schuyler Estate provides a setting and contributes to the historic property’s character. While cultural landscape retains limited integrity, due to the great amount of change since the end of the periods of significance and the few remaining landscape characteristics and features, those landscape characteristics and features that do remain should be preserved. The Schuyler House, built at the close of 1777, reflects the aftermath of the battle and the last twenty-seven years of Schuyler’s life and contributes to the 1763-1804 period of significance. Other built features on the grounds (the privy, the well house, and the stone wellhead) date to Schuyler’s lifetime and contribute to the significance as well. A few trees and shrubs and the curved path in front of the house may also date to this period. Numerous buildings including mills, barracks, and barns are missing today, and the vegetation and views and vistas have changed dramatically. Portions of the Old Champlain Canal on state land within the legislative boundaries of the unit retain landscape elements for the canal transportation period, 1823-c.1917. The ruins contribute another layer of historic significance to the Schuyler Estate property. Stone bridge abutments from
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