Governor Cuomo Announces 21 Properties Recommended To State and National Registers Of Historic Places

OSWEGO – Governor Andrew Cuomo Friday (Nov. 3) announced that the New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 21 properties, resources and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The nominations, which reflect the striking diversity of New York’s history, include the Mount Hope Cemetery in the Finger Lakes where both human rights pioneers Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony are buried, four sites significant in African-American history, an Off-Off-Broadway theater in New York City that is important in LGBT history, and a piece of Oswego’s railroad history – The Oswego & Syracuse Railroad Freight House on West Utica Street.

The 1848 limestone structure is the earliest railroad building built in Oswego and one of only a few New York State rail buildings of similar age, according to Justin White, Oswego County Historian.

“I wrote the National Register nomination for the historic Oswego & Syracuse Freight House. I did it on behalf of the owner, Joe Castaldo, and the Heritage Foundation of Oswego that paid the cost,” he said.

It has passed through the NYS Register of Historic Places and is now on the fast track to Washington DC, for the National Register review, he added.

The nomination will most likely be accepted at National level, since SHPO approved it, White pointed out.

It an important structure that is the oldest known freight house freight in NYS that still survives.

Castaldo has owned the building for many years and currently is working on plans for adaptive reuse, he said.

The Oswego & Syracuse Railroad Freight House is a one-story, 33’ x 125’, limestone building at 20-24 W. Utica St. It is close to various mid-nineteenth century bridges, tunnels, and trestles that gave railroads access to the port of Oswego on Lake Ontario.

“The building was constructed in 1848 for the first railroad in the city. It is the oldest rail-related building in Oswego and one of the oldest intact railroad buildings in New York State,” White said.

The building retains five important features that define it as a rail freight building.

It is supported on massive fieldstone piers to support the weight of freight shipments. The interior is open, as the result of a truss system that supports the roof. The front of the building is subdivided with windows and doors that mark its use as an office. Exterior traces of the original platforms can be seen in timber sockets on both sides of the building. The sliding doors are set opposite one another to enable freight to be moved directly from trains to wagons for local delivery.

In addition, the building retains most of its integrity.

It has lost historic additions and platform, but the roof gables, interior trusses, piers, and exterior stonework remain, along with the doors, which are historic (if not original) and retain most of their hardware.

There is an extensive crack through the west wall near the south corner of the building. According to the current owner, this crack was caused by the movement of trains through the tunnel that ran from the portal on West Third Street to the port area.

The freight house originally contained an office at its east end; this area was finished but has now lost its partitions and wall coverings.

The rest of the first floor is completely open except for cribbing built when the current owner repaired the roof in the front third of the building.

The freight house was built to manage large quantities of incoming and outgoing freight, mostly grain, coal, and lumber. It was designed so that trains came right up to the doors on the north elevation, and there was a platform on the south elevation to load goods on wagons.

Two additions were historically part of the building. The one at the rear is marked “Additional Storage” on the 1924 Sanborn, while a second overlapping the rear addition and stone building on the south is marked “Box Making & Storage.”

These additions were removed sometime in the mid-20 century.

“Overall, the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad Freight House has remarkable integrity. The building remains in its original location, and the setting, despite the loss of the railroad tracks on West Utica Street, has not been encroached upon by new commercial or residential buildings,” White noted in his nomination. “The design, materials, and workmanship survive almost unaltered from 1848. Roof gables, interior trusses, piers, exterior stonework, and doors remain. The core building is highly intact and reads as one of the oldest surviving railroad buildings in New York State.”

The current owner recalls that the building was leased to a local beer distributor around 1950 for storage.

It was purchased by the current owner in 1983, after the last train ceased operations on West Utica Street, from the Consolidated Railroad Company, a successor of the Erie Railroad.

The tracks were removed and the tunnel to the Oswego River was blocked.

The freight house has been largely vacant since then.

“The Empire State proudly celebrates its diverse culture and rich heritage, and with the addition of these significant sites to the Registers of Historic Places, we will continue to honor all of the great things that make New York, New York,” Governor Cuomo said. “Listing these landmarks will honor the contributions made by so many New Yorkers throughout our vast history, and helps advance efforts to preserve and improve these important historic sites for future generations.”

State and national registers listing can assist property owners in revitalizing buildings, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.

“State and National Register listing is an important step in appreciating the value of our history,” said Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. “Historic preservation is an excellent tool to create jobs, promote tourism, expand housing and encourage private investment, all while preserving natural resources.”

The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation.

There are more than 120,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts.

Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.

Once the recommendations are approved by the state historic preservation officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register.

According to White, The Oswego & Syracuse Railroad Freight House is a significant building within the city and county of Oswego for its association with the city’s first railroad. It also has statewide significance as one of the oldest surviving rail-related buildings to survive intact.

The Cobblestone Railroad Pumphouse in the hamlet of Fishers, Ontario County (NR listed, 1992), was constructed about 1845 by the Auburn and Rochester Railroad and is older; the Cochecton Railroad Station in Sullivan County (NR listed 1973) was built around 1850 for the Erie Railroad and is a few years younger.

The Oswego & Syracuse Freight House is also significant for its architecture, both as a representative building of its type and for being built in Ordovician limestone.

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