{"nrhp_refnum":"10000897","name":"Thendara Historic District","other_names":["Fulton Chain"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Birch St and Forge St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Old Forge","county":"Herkimer County","state":"NY","lat":43.65750073600003,"lon":-75.00441503899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-11-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small district of five surviving late nineteenth-century commercial, governmental and railroad buildings in the hamlet of Thendara, Town of Webb (Old Forge area), Herkimer County, New York, built between 1891 and 1896 around a railroad station.","why_significant":"The buildings reflect the growth of Thendara as a gateway to the Fulton Chain of lakes after rail service reached the Adirondacks, when tourist traffic supported hotels, a freight station, and civic facilities. The district is significant for its architecture and its role in transportation. The period of significance runs from the earliest building, the Van Auken Tavern (1891), to the decline of rail service by the 1940s.","narrative":"Five buildings from the 1890s make up this small district in Thendara, a hamlet near Old Forge in Herkimer County, New York. They cluster around a New York Central railroad passenger station at the head of the Fulton Chain of lakes, the gateway to the interior Adirondacks. The group includes the Moose River House hotel (1896), the Town Hall (about 1896), the Van Auken Tavern (1891), the passenger station (1894) and a freight house (1896). When rail service arrived in the early 1890s, tourism surged, and Thendara drew about 20,000 visitors a year, enough to support three hotels, steamboat service, sawmills, a post office and a town hall. The freight house also shipped timber out and carried supplies in. The Town Hall doubled as a social center for dances, theater and church services. The district is recognized for its architecture and its connection to rail transportation, with a significance period of 1891 to 1940.","period_of_significance":"1891-1940","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival; Late Victorian: Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current functions include rail-related transportation and a vacant listing; the Town Hall has lost its steeple superstructure, and the Van Auken Tavern is clad in aluminum siding.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.34326-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/10000897.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000897/41573295cf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000897/41573295cf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Auken%27s_Inne_Thendara_Historic_District_Jan_12.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, 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:Van_Auken%27s_Inne_Thendara_Historic_District_Jan_12.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"93001451","name":"New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/new-york-central-railroad-adirondack-division-historic-district-93001451/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318202","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thendara,_New_York","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7781363"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/herkimer-county/thendara-historic-district-10000897/"}