{"nrhp_refnum":"04000707","name":"Canisteo Living Sign","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"SE side of hill, N of Cemetery Rd. off Greenwood St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Canisteo","county":"Steuben County","state":"NY","lat":42.266634863000036,"lon":-77.61441919599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-07-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A site on the southeast side of a hill off Greenwood Street in Canisteo, Steuben County, New York, where 260 pine trees spell out the village name 'Canisteo'. It was laid out in 1933 and planted in 1934 by Harry C. Smith and Edwin M. Childs.","why_significant":"The sign is significant under Criterion A for its role in the village's identity and in the aviation history of New York's Southern Tier, where it served as a visual navigation marker for pilots. It is significant under Criterion C for its design and unusual living construction material. It retains a high degree of integrity, with only minor landscaping changes around the perimeter.","narrative":"On a hillside just outside the village of Canisteo in Steuben County, New York, 260 pine trees spell out the word \"Canisteo\" across a plot of less than an acre. Harry C. Smith, a civil engineer, conceived the idea and laid out the letters in 1933. His brother-in-law Edwin Childs supplied the land. In 1934 residents and Boy Scouts planted about 750 Scotch pine seedlings, which were later thinned to the present 260. The project gave residents a shared undertaking during the Great Depression and drew visitors, including a 1938 mention in Robert Ripley's \"Believe It or Not\" column. Smith also intended it as a visual marker for pilots, and it later served as a visual flight checkpoint and a reference point on the regional flight path. Military aircrews still use it for low-level training. The Canisteo school district bought the hillside in 1957 and agreed to care for the sign permanently, and a community committee supports its upkeep.","period_of_significance":"1933-1954","architect_builder":"Harry C. Smith; Edwin M. Childs","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Maintained by the Canisteo Central School District, which owns the land and has cared for the sign under a 1957 deed covenant; all 260 trees survive and are about 10-12 feet tall.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.870852-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04000707.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000707/8f5f64cfdd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000707/8f5f64cfdd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kp1111","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canisteo_Living_Sign_1,_NY.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Kp1111</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canisteo_Living_Sign_1,_NY.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321961","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canisteo_Living_Sign","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5032457"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/steuben-county/canisteo-living-sign-04000707/"}