{"nrhp_refnum":"09000554","name":"Entranceway at Main Street at Darwin Drive","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Main St. at Darwin Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amherst","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.963577067000074,"lon":-78.77805516799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-07-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A suburban subdivision entranceway with stone posts, low stone walls, wrought iron arch, light fixtures and a pictorial metal street sign, on the south side of Main Street at Darwin Drive in Amherst, Erie County, New York, built circa 1927.","why_significant":"It is argued to be an intact and relatively rare early twentieth-century subdivision entranceway tied to the growth of Amherst from a rural town into a residential suburb of Buffalo. It also reflects the national trend of suburbanization and the use of street furniture to market upper-middle-class subdivisions. It is considered significant under Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Marking the entrance to the Audubon Terrace South subdivision, this entranceway on Main Street at Darwin Drive in Amherst, New York, dates to about 1927. It consists of quarry-faced random ashlar stone posts with cast concrete caps, low curving stone walls, and a wrought iron trellis arch spanning the sidewalk along Darwin Drive. Metal and glass lamps top the posts and the arch. Nearby stands a painted metal street sign post with a cut-metal silhouette of a scholar at a desk, tied to the street's naturalist name. Developer Charles S. Burkhardt built the entrance for a subdivision of 585 lots. Such entrances were used as marketing tools, imitating country estates to attract upper-middle-class buyers leaving Buffalo. The entranceway is valued as a surviving example of how developers turned rural land into suburban neighborhoods, and for its design and workmanship. It remains in fair condition and still serves its original purpose.","period_of_significance":"c.1927","architect_builder":"Charles Buckhardt, Developer (builder/developer Charles S. Burkhardt; possibly designed by James W. Kideney)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The entranceway is described as in fair condition, with historic integrity, and still marks the vehicle and pedestrian entrance to the subdivision. The stone coping is presumably missing.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.305481-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000554.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000554/b76fa8317e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000554/b76fa8317e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entranceway_at_Main_Street_at_Darwin_Drive_Apr_10.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entranceway_at_Main_Street_at_Darwin_Drive_Apr_10.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312781","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entranceway_at_Main_Street_at_Darwin_Drive","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5380677"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/entranceway-at-main-street-at-darwin-drive-09000554/"}