{"nrhp_refnum":"07001036","name":"Irwin, W.P., Bank Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"156 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rensselaer","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.640466186000026,"lon":-73.74662712399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-10-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick bank building at 156 Broadway in Rensselaer, Rensselaer County, New York, built in 1873 on a narrow corner lot, with a rear wing added around 1905.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an early, substantially intact example of High Victorian Gothic commercial architecture in Rensselaer County. It is also tied to William P. Irwin, a prominent local entrepreneur, and reflects the prosperity of nineteenth-century Hudson River commerce. It is described as a rare surviving building type.","narrative":"Built in 1873 at the corner of Broadway and Second Avenue in Rensselaer, this two-story brick building was constructed as the East Albany Banking & Trust Company for local businessman William P. Irwin. Irwin owned flour mills, grain elevators and a malt house, and the bank was meant as a showpiece for the community then known as Greenbush. The facade uses pressed brick in red and white, a corbelled cornice, Gothic-arched window lintels and a belt course with a Greek cross motif. Inside, the banking room keeps walnut window casings, and the cut-rock basement and an early wrought iron safe survive. Steel floor beams may be an early structural use of that material. The bank closed after Irwin's death. A successor, the Rensselaer County Bank & Trust, added a rear wing around 1905 and renovated the entrance and banking room. A jewelry store later occupied the building, and it now houses accounting offices.","period_of_significance":"1873-circa 1920","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th Century Revivals/High Victorian Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently occupied by the offices of an accounting firm; formerly a bank, then a jewelry store, with an upper-floor apartment.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.666614-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/07001036.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001036/54bf1c5146-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001036/54bf1c5146-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, Upstate New York, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W._P._Irwin_Bank_Building_Oct_10.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, Upstate New York, United States</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:W._P._Irwin_Bank_Building_Oct_10.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321244","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._P._Irwin_Bank_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7945869"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/irwin-w-p-bank-building-07001036/"}