Court Street Historic District
The Court Street Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the documentation for the Plattsburgh Multiple Resource Area. [1]
Description
The Court Street Historic District is a four-block residential area extending from Oak Street on the east to Beekman Street on the west. The Court Street Historic District is located in the west center of Plattsburgh and includes fifty-four structures built during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Most of the included buildings are large frame residences which exhibit Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style architectural details and share a common scale, massing and setback. Several houses scattered throughout the Court Street Historic District reflect Greek Revival, Italianate, and Eclectic stylistic influences characteristic of their earlier period of construction.
Nineteen of the fifty-four buildings within the boundaries of the Court Street Historic District have experienced partial alteration, chiefly in the form of modern siding. Only two structures have lost sufficient integrity of design and materials to be considered non-contributing structures: The two residences at 69-71 Court Street have been physically connected and altered for use as a funeral home, while 84 Court Street has lost design features and its 1910 proportions when converted to an apartment building. The majority of altered structures contribute to the Court Street Historic District in terms of their original decorative features. Changes which have occurred generally appear reversible, and the homogeneous quality of the Court Street Historic District remains intact.
Significance
The Court Street Historic District is significant as a homogeneous grouping of substantial residences which reflect the taste and prosperity of late nineteenth century Plattsburgh. In its scale, integrity, and architectural features, the Court Street Historic District is the best preserved concentration of structures surviving from this period in the city.
As the commercial and legal center of northern New York and the Champlain Valley, Plattsburgh grew and prospered for nearly a century following the War of 1812. As the city expanded westward from Lake Champlain, merchants, bankers and professional men built large, stylish residences lining Court Street from 1850 to the first decades of the twentieth century. From the stone Greek Revival style house at 70 Court Street to the highly decorated Eclectic residence at 15 Pleasant Street, to the imposing Colonial Revival style structure at 89 Court Street, the Court Street Historic District illustrates the stylistic progression of upper middle class housing in the city of Plattsburgh during its most affluent era. The broad range of architectural features, including bracketed cornices, porte cocheres, tripartite windows, classical porticos and towers, adds variety and interest to the Court Street Historic District streetscape.
- Raymond W. Smith, New York State Division for Historic Preservation, Plattsburgh Multiple Resource Area, Clinton County, NY, nomination document, 1982, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Court Street • Pleasant Street
