ALBANY –Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 18 varied properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including a Hudson Valley village once famed for its violet industry, an early home in Long Island’s African-American community, remnants of a 19th-century canal that helped fuel the Southern Tier economy and offices of an internationally known upstate tableware company founded by a 19th-century religious community.
In the Hudson Valley, Rhinebeck in Dutchess County and Dobbs Ferry in Westchester County were on the list.
Rhinebeck Village Historic District Expansion, covering more than 250 buildings, sites and structures, includes residential areas associated with the village’s once-thriving violet growing industry as well as a neighborhood established for African American and Irish American residents, areas excluded when the district was originally listed in 1979. It includes the Platt Avenue area that during the early 20th century made the village an important center of the national violet growing industry. While the area’s many violet greenhouses are now gone, the district still includes the grand former residences of major producers, such as “violet kings” Ethan A. Coon and Julius Vonderlinden.
In Westchester, Dobbs Ferry’s Zion Episcopal Church was nominated. It was first constructed in the 1830s in the Gothic Revival style, and expanded in the 1850s and 1870s, the church remains in use and is the oldest religious building in Dobbs Ferry.
“These historic locations highlight so much of what is exceptional about New York and its incredible contributions to our nation’s history,” Governor Cuomo said.”By placing these landmarks on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, we are helping to ensure these places and their caretakers have the funding needed to preserve, improve and promote the best of this great state.”
State and National Registers listing can assist owners in revitalizing properties, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.
Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Erik Kulleseid said, “The nominations highlight the broad diversity of our state, its people, and their stories. This recognition helps support ongoing efforts made by many people over the years to protect and appreciate New York’s fascinating history.”
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