Village of Monroe Historic District

The Village of Monroe Historic District, which is also known under the name of Smith 's Mill Historic District, located in the Village of Monroe, New York in the United States. It is an irregularly shaped 81 acres ( about 32 hectares) area encompassing 36 Contributing Properties in the east-central area of ​​the resort, which is composed of mostly residential homes and some churches and commercial buildings. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

In the largest part of the historic district is an open development; it comprises a mill pond with park, a cemetery and a former trotting track. The existing buildings date mostly from the 19th century, with some in a field on the Stage Road form the former center of Monroe and go back to the days before the American Revolution. At that time the waters of the Ramapo Creek was dammed by Smith 's Mill. These houses were spared in 1892 by a local fire that otherwise devastated the village. Within the district outweigh neoclassical buildings and monuments in the Federal style, added some neo-Gothic buildings from the mid-19th century. Within the historic district is the building of the oldest Masonic Lodge in New York, the former cheese factory, where for the first time Velveeta cheese was produced and the residence of the local founder David Smith, which was later extended by extensions and alterations to a bigger house.

Geography

The clearest is the western boundary of the historic district, which leads to the New York State Route 17M along Lake Street to a point about a mile west of the intersection with Stage Road. Some areas west of State Route however, are part of the historic district, especially at the Stage Road, but also sections of Oakland, Mill Street and Ramapo. East of State Route 17M are two large plots of land northeast of the intersection with Stage Road is not part of the historic district. In the east the boundary of the district of the western side of the Mill Pond Parkway follows south of Lake Street, then runs along the south side of Smithfield Court to the east and then to the west side of the Stage Street for a short distance to the south. About a zigzag course the boundary of the historic district then leads to the intersection of Carpenter Place and Maple Street and from there southward to include the Monroe Cemetery and finally due west to the Stage Street and NY 17M.

History

18th and 19th centuries

The History of the Village of Monroe began with the arrival of David Smith of Brookhaven on Long Iceland, who purchased a 1747 112 -acre piece of land due to the Cheese Cocks patent. He had built on the land six years ago at the site of present-day intersection of Maple Street and stage a house. He bought in 1761 an adjacent property; both land purchases comprise a large part of present-day village Monroe.

Smith dammed the stream to operate a water mill. Soon the settlement was named Smith 's Mills. The settlement grew into the beginning of the 19th century and was first renamed in Southfield and 1808 in Munroe, the name of a former senator from New York. Later, during the presidency of James Monroe, Irritierung arose about the spelling, and finally the more common spelling was adopted, which led to the general assumption that the place got its name after the president.

This period in the history of Monroe reflected in the built in the Federal style houses in the historic district resist, including McGarrah 's Tavern at the corner of Stage Road and State Route 17M. It was originally, in 1814, the meeting place of the Masonic Lodge and is the oldest still in use as such a building in New York.

In 1836, other sectors of the economy were the mill business in Monroe come; the smelting of iron ore from the surrounding mountains and further processing into finished products such as nails and ship anchors contributed to the local economy. The construction of the New York and Erie Railroad by the then outskirts of the village opened new markets for local businesses. In this period, the popularity of the Federal Styles waved slowly to the Architecture of Neoclassicism. Built in 1811 Nicholas Knight House at the Stage Road received at a later renovation a clearer expression of this style, and the resulting 1853 First Presbyterian Church of Monroe was in a more advanced interpretation of the architectural style.

The construction of the railway network allowed the Monroe Cheese Company, 1873 to introduce the Velveeta brand throughout the United States. The Italian -looking brick building of the old factory still stands at the Mill Pond Road. From the different architectural styles in the late phase of Victorian architecture, the Queen Anne style continued through most clearly. Built in 1841 at the Maple Avenue Methodist Church was built in 1885 renovated in 1896, this style and the Church of the Sacred Heart as Queen Anne building.

1892 a fire destroyed a large part of the former town center, east of the mill, and older buildings. The citizens responded two years later with the incorporation of the settlement to a village to build a fire station and a water distribution system.

20th and 21st centuries

Construction activities in the historic core of the town went back to the beginning of the 20th century, when Monroe stretched and other areas were opened up. The racecourse was 1908-1927 at a much used venue for trotting races. The style of the Colonial Revival was not as popular as before, the buildings in the Victorian style, which is why there are only a few examples of colonial architecture in the historical district. The most significant of these is the American Foursquare house in the 132 Stage Road, which was built in 1910.

Since 1940, there has been in the historic district, no major construction projects, with the exception of 1948 in the neoclassical style in addition to the cheese factory built Monroe Theatre. The main grandstand of the race track Traber was demolished in 1964.

Wendy Bush, a descendant of the first inhabitants of the town of Monroe citizen, sat down heavily favor of the creation of the historic district. Many of the affected owners were against the measure because they feared that the changes in the development plan would prevent the further expansion of their property. Since the creation of the historic district just a few measures for the conservation and restoration of historic buildings have been carried out within its borders.

Contributing properties

The 36 contributing properties include a total of 70 buildings. Of these 47 buildings, 9 other buildings and four sites are historic resources of the historic district. None of them has so far been recorded independently in the register. Nine other buildings - most are garages - are not considered as contributing as they emerged at the end of the 20th century. Among the contributing buildings include:

• The Hophni Smith House in the Stage Road 400 is a one and a half story saltbox, built around 1750 and was moved in the mid-19th century to its present location.
• The David Jeremiah Smith - Knight House in the Stage Road 315 is a two and a half storey arisen in post and beam construction, residential building in the Federal style, its rear part was added later. It is believed that Smith built the house in 1741. It is now housed the Historical Society of the place.
• The remains of the Smith -Knight Grist Mill located right next to it. From the building was built around 1750 only foundations, dam, spillway and Mühlbach are obtained. The large mill pond is now at the center of a municipal park.
• McGarrah 's Inn or Goff 's Tavern is located in the Stage Road 300 The house was built around 1800 and was used from 1814 as a meeting of a Masonic Lodge. The 1839 expanded to its present size building is thus the former seat of the oldest Masonic Lodge of New York. Later it was the residence of Mayor Frederick Hulse, who was one of the prosecutors at the Nuremberg trials. Locals Masons bought the house to renovate it and to feed back its original use.
• The Monroe Cemetery is located on the north side of State Route 17M. This cemetery early settler was extended in the 19th century. It contains cemetery art from two time periods.
• The Monroe Cheese Company in Mill Pond Road 30 was in a three-story Italianate brick building, circa 1880.
• The Monroe Presbyterian Church is a 1853 neo-classicism arisen in the church building in the Stage Road 142 A row of columns at the front is covered by a molded frieze. She is one of the most striking buildings in the Village of Monroe.
• Monroe Racetrack is the name for a vacant lot south of Stage Road. Here was the beginning of the 20th century, a trotting plant from which the gravel racetrack can still be seen.
• The Monroe Theatre at the Mill Pond Parkway 34 is a brick in the 1940s building in the neoclassical style. Four stone pillars support the frieze and the pediment.
• The Judge William Seaman House at 160 Stage Road was built in 1809 as an inn. It was in 1850 set back from the road and renovated. At this time, the neo-classical elements and the Italianate details were added. The originally present porch was removed in the 1930s.