{"nrhp_refnum":"09000556","name":"Entranceway at Main Street at Lafayette Boulevard","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Main St. at Lafayette Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amherst","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.96188048500005,"lon":-78.76070235899994,"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 residential subdivision entranceway on the south side of Main Street (Route 5) at Lafayette Boulevard in the Town of Amherst, Erie County, New York, built in the 1920s. It has roofed stone archways, half-height stone walls and stone posts on both corners.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an intact and relatively rare early twentieth-century subdivision entranceway. It is tied to Amherst's change from rural town to a residential suburb of Buffalo, and to the national spread of suburbanization. It also embodies the entranceway as a structure type from a distinct period of community planning and landscape design.","narrative":"Two matching stone gateways mark the entrance to Lafayette Boulevard from Main Street (Route 5) in the Town of Amherst, New York. Built in the 1920s for the Amherst Gardens development by the Orange and Black Corporation, each side has a round-headed arch of white limestone quoins infilled with multicolored granite boulders, topped by a hipped cedar-shingle roof. Half-height stone walls and square stone posts extend from the arches, and the sidewalks pass beneath the roofed archways. The entranceway was listed for its link to Amherst's growth from a rural area into a suburb of Buffalo. Developers used such gateways, which imitated country estates, as marketing tools to attract upper middle class buyers seeking escape from city congestion. The structure remains in its original location with original design and materials, and it still serves as the threshold to the subdivision. The designer is unknown, though likely someone on the corporation's staff.","period_of_significance":"c. 1920","architect_builder":"Orange & Black Corp., Developers","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition with historic integrity, in its original location and still serving its original function of marking the entrance to a residential subdivision.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:47.853876-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000556.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000556/82d552ac00-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000556/82d552ac00-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entranceway_at_Main_Street_at_Lafayette_Boulevard_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_Lafayette_Boulevard_Apr_10.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entranceway_at_Main_Street_at_Lafayette_Boulevard","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5380679"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/entranceway-at-main-street-at-lafayette-boulevard-09000556/"}