{"nrhp_refnum":"04001343","name":"Clare Town Hall","other_names":["Town of Clare Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3441 CR 27","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clare","county":"St. Lawrence County","state":"NY","lat":44.434980703000065,"lon":-75.05543150799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-12-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, front-gabled, clapboard-sided former town hall at 3441 CR 27 in Clare, St. Lawrence County, New York, built in 1897 by John Bird. It now houses the Town of Clare Museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a remarkably intact example of a modest late-19th-century rural civic building, with its exterior and interior unchanged since construction. It served as the seat of town government until 1968 and was a center of local social life.","narrative":"Built in 1897 on a half-acre lot in Clare, in northern St. Lawrence County, this small frame building served as the town hall for seventy years. Clare had become a township in 1880, and town meetings had been held in a nearby school until the town raised $600, bought the land from John Bird for $10, and hired Bird, then Highway Commissioner, to build the hall. It is a one-story, front-gabled structure with clapboard siding, original two-over-two windows, corner boards, a cornice band and a metal seam roof. Inside is a single large auditorium with a raised stage and beaded board walls. The first recorded board meeting there took place on February 1, 1898, and monthly meetings continued until a new town hall opened in 1968. The building then became the Town of Clare Museum, holding local items such as quilts, farm tools and blacksmith shop equipment. It was listed for its architecture and its role in local government and community life.","period_of_significance":"1897-1954","architect_builder":"John Bird (Builder)","architectural_style":"Other/vernacular meeting house","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now used as the Town of Clare Museum, a repository of local history items; the building is described as looking the same as when built in 1897.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.006595-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04001343.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321870","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Town_Hall_(New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5126263"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/st-lawrence-county/clare-town-hall-04001343/"}