Safe Haven at Fort Ontario Park.
OSWEGO – Today (Sept. 21), the Governor announced the nomination of 27 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said the New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended the addition of 27 properties, resources and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The nominations reflect the remarkable breadth of New York’s history, ranging from an Oswego fort that sheltered Holocaust refugees to the nation’s first outdoor bank teller window to the only remaining historic carousel on Coney Island.
“These sites are the locations of significant moments in New York’s rich history that in many cases reverberated across the nation and beyond,” Governor Cuomo said. “By placing these landmarks on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, we are honoring and preserving their legacy and giving visitors the chance to learn about this state’s vibrant history.”
“Congratulations to the owners and caretakers for this important recognition,” said Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. “Listing these 27 places on the State and National Registers will help us to better preserve, appreciate and understand New York’s profound history.”
Nominated in Oswego is the Fort Ontario Military Reservation.
The nomination expands and replaces an earlier National Register listing to obtain a more accurate and inclusive boundary more reflective of the fort’s military history.
The new nomination also adds national significance for the fort’s history as the site of the only refugee camp in the United States for victims of the Holocaust and World War II.
From 1944 to 1946, Fort Ontario was a temporary emergency refugee shelter operated by the US War Relocation Authority.
The shelter helped the refugees regain their health and move forward with their lives after the horrors of war, which for many included time in concentration camps.
Most of the refuges eventually became American citizens.
State and National Register 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.
Spurred by the state and federal historic rehabilitation commercial tax credits administered by the State Historic Preservation Office, developers invested $500 million statewide in 2014 to revitalize properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while homeowners using the state historic homeowner rehabilitation tax credit invested more than $9.8 million statewide on home improvements to help revitalize historic neighborhoods.
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.
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