{"nrhp_refnum":"08000096","name":"Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Sherwood Rd. & NY 34B","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sherwood","county":"Cayuga County","state":"NY","lat":42.76239452450005,"lon":-76.62040275347437,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-02-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Black","Other","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district covering nearly the whole crossroads hamlet of Sherwood, town of Scipio, Cayuga County, New York, centered on the intersection of Sherwood Road and NY 34B. It has 31 contributing resources, mostly 19th-century frame houses, plus commercial buildings, a grange hall, a former schoolhouse and a cemetery.","why_significant":"The hamlet retains a large, intact group of buildings tied to Quaker families who advocated abolitionism, women's rights, education and social equality. The Howland family, especially Emily Howland, was central to these movements. Houses here sheltered African Americans and hosted figures such as Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth.","narrative":"Sherwood is a small crossroads hamlet in the town of Scipio, Cayuga County, where nearly every building along Sherwood Road and Route 34B survives from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Most are modest frame houses in vernacular Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian styles. Landmarks include the 1837 Howland Cobblestone Store, now a museum, the 1883 Howland Commercial Block, the former Sherwood House inn, a ca. 1905 grange hall, an 1851 schoolhouse and a one-acre cemetery. The district matters because of the people who lived here. Quaker families, above all the Howlands, supported abolition, women's rights and education. Emily Howland taught in schools for free people of color, helped lead suffrage organizations and founded the Sherwood Select School. Her home received visitors including Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony. Nearby rural properties linked to the same themes were left out because they had lost integrity. Several key buildings are vacant and deteriorating.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Slocum Howland (cobblestone store, 1837); William Howland (Howland Commercial Block, 1883)","architectural_style":"Federal, Greek Revival, Victorian (Italianate, Stick Style, Gothic), and vernacular interpretations","criteria":[],"status_note":"Several resources are described as vacant and deteriorated, including the Thomas-Brown House, Opendore, the Slocum and Hannah Howland House and the Grange Hall. The Howland Cobblestone Store is now a museum and other buildings remain private homes.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.293982-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000096.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000096/3352cc7e08-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000096/3352cc7e08-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Lvklock","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Howland_Commercial_Block.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lvklock</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:Howland_Commercial_Block.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312230","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwood_Equal_Rights_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7495518"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/cayuga-county/sherwood-equal-rights-historic-district-08000096/"}