{"nrhp_refnum":"06001078","name":"Checkerboard Inn","other_names":["Forshee--Jenkins House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1292 Orange Turnpike","address_restricted":false,"city":"Monroe","county":"Orange County","state":"NY","lat":41.30003798600006,"lon":-74.18520319499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-one-half-story frame house with later wings, located south of the Village of Monroe in Orange County, New York. The original section dates to about 1790-1810 and was built for Bernard Forshee, with additions made about 1940 under Moses C. Migel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues local significance for the building's traditional link to the Orange Turnpike as a stagecoach stop known as the Checkerboard Inn, and as a modest example of Hudson Valley vernacular architecture. It also matters for its role in the early 20th-century Migel Estate, developed by silk merchant and philanthropist Moses C. Migel. A short section of the original turnpike alignment survives beside it.","narrative":"Known locally as the Checkerboard Inn, this small frame house sits south of the Village of Monroe, beside a surviving stretch of the original Orange Turnpike. The oldest part, a one-and-one-half-story, five-bay dwelling with Federal-style finishes, was built about 1790-1810, apparently for Bernard Forshee. Local tradition holds that it served as a stagecoach tavern, said to have been marked by a checkerboard paint pattern on its east side, though documentation of the inn use is incomplete. In 1914 the property passed to New York silk merchant Moses C. Migel, who made it part of his 230-acre country estate. Around 1940 the Migel family added east and west wings and a rear terrace, creating a U-shaped plan. The house is now within a golf club and condominium development. It has been vacant for about a decade, and water damage, broken windows and overgrowth have affected the later wings in particular. Its significance rests on the turnpike connection, the vernacular early building and the Migel estate history.","period_of_significance":"c. 1790-c. 1940","architect_builder":"Bernard Forshee (apparent builder of the original dwelling)","architectural_style":"Early Republic: Federal; Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as vacant, with the site overgrown. Advanced deterioration is described, including plaster and wood damage and broken windows in the later wings.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.868591-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/06001078.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001078/6033aebb27-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001078/6033aebb27-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Checkerboard_Inn,_Monroe,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Checkerboard_Inn,_Monroe,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320598","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkerboard_Inn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1068771"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/orange-county/checkerboard-inn-06001078/"}