{"nrhp_refnum":"06000018","name":"207th Street Yard-Signal Service Building and Tower B","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"W. 215th St. bet. Tenth Ave. and the Harlem R","address_restricted":false,"city":"Manhattan","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.86836672700008,"lon":-73.91309583299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-02-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Engineering","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick signal repair shop with a single-story signal tower on its roof, located in the 207th Street Yard in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, along West 215th Street. Built c. 1930 as part of the IND subway system's main yard.","why_significant":"The nomination finds the building significant under Criterion A in transportation engineering and community planning and development. It is the only structure built to repair signals in the subway system, and the only remaining signal repair shop in use for the whole system. Tower B still uses its original manual switching equipment, a mode of operation described as vanishing. The building retains a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Tucked into the southeast corner of the 207th Street Yard in Washington Heights, this two-story brick building and the small tower on its roof served the subway system's signal needs from about 1930. The shop covers roughly 20,000 square feet, with plain walls, steel casement windows, terra cotta coping and a loading dock on the east side. Inside, repair areas such as the Relay Room and a parts room support the work, and original equipment and paneled wooden doors survive. A 1976 extension on the west side matches the original materials and proportions. Tower B holds a large manual switching device with its original Union Switch and Signal Company panel board, still controlling train movements at the north end of the yard. The building is the only one built to repair signals for the subway system and the only signal repair shop still in use. The yard around it was found to lack integrity, but the shop and tower were judged to meet the criteria individually.","period_of_significance":"1927-1930","architect_builder":"Ridgeway, Robert (Engineer); Raisman, Aaron (Architect)","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still in use as a signal repair shop; Tower B's original panel board remains in use and controls train movements at the north end of the yard.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.238672-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/06000018.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000018/76aa3c755d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000018/76aa3c755d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Americasroof","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:207th-signal.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:207th-signal.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313939","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137219985"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/207th-street-yard-signal-service-building-and-tower-b-06000018/"}