{"nrhp_refnum":"01001496","name":"Ames Academy Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"611 Latimer Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ames","county":"Montgomery County","state":"NY","lat":42.83711904100005,"lon":-74.59968724499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-01-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, gable-roofed limestone academy building at 611 Latimer Hill Road in the village of Ames, Montgomery County, New York, built in 1835. It sits on a 2.2-acre parcel now maintained as a village park.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a rare and substantially intact example of Federal period masonry civic architecture in Montgomery County (Criterion C). It also reflects the evolution of local education, from a private academy to a public school that served Ames until 1959 (Criterion A).","narrative":"Built in 1835 of locally quarried, cut limestone, this two-story academy building in the village of Ames, Montgomery County, served as the community's first educational institution. It has five bays on its long side and two on its gable ends, with stone quoins, a molded wood cornice and a small louvered belfry holding the original bell. Each floor contains one large classroom, and blackboards and beaded wainscoting remain inside. The school began as a private academy, incorporated in 1837 and chartered by the State Board of Regents in 1839. It became a union free public school in 1867, joined a consolidated district in 1901, and became part of the Canajoharie Central School District in 1945. It closed in 1959. The nomination presents it as a rare, intact local example of Federal period masonry civic architecture. Since 1987 the village has operated it as the Ames Museum, with a local history collection and meeting space.","period_of_significance":"1835-1959","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Republic/Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Maintained by the village since 1987 as the Ames Museum, housing a local history collection and serving as a community meeting hall.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.914126-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01001496.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001496/7869903577-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001496/7869903577-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ames_Academy_Building_May_10.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ames_Academy_Building_May_10.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318983","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_Academy_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4745860"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/montgomery-county/ames-academy-building-01001496/"}