{"nrhp_refnum":"10000959","name":"McNish, Alexander, House","other_names":["McNish--Musser House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"194 CR 30","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Washington County","state":"NY","lat":43.167714954000076,"lon":-73.34603169499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick house with a gambrel roof at 194 County Route 30, near Salem in Washington County, New York, built about 1794, probably by Alexander McNish. The roughly 8-acre property also includes several outbuildings.","why_significant":"The house is a well-preserved example of late 18th-century, post-Revolutionary War domestic architecture in the Salem area, representing an identified Georgian-influenced house sub-type. It is also tied to Alexander McNish, a Revolutionary War militiaman and sheep farmer linked to the early Merino sheep industry in Washington County, and to the area's agricultural history.","narrative":"Built around 1794, this one-story brick dwelling with a gambrel slate roof sits on County Route 30 near Salem, New York. Its walls of hand-made brick laid in Flemish bond rest on a rubble stone foundation. The symmetrical five-bay front reflects a Georgian plan of four rooms around a center passage, each with its own fireplace. The original kitchen, with a large hearth and bake oven, was in the exposed basement. Later changes include a historic frame wing, a relocated carriage barn used as a second wing, and replacement window sash, though the original sash are kept on site. The house is tied to Alexander McNish, a Scottish-descended militiaman wounded at Saratoga, who farmed sheep with his father and apparently built it with the proceeds. The McNish family raised sheep in the area, and Alexander is linked to the Merino sheep trade in Washington County. Today the property keeps about 8 acres of a former 150-acre farm, with outbuildings of several periods.","period_of_significance":"c. 1794-c. 1900","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Vernacular; Colonial: Georgian","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Currently used as a single dwelling, as it was historically.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.319921-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/10000959.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322851","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_McNish_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4719630"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/washington-county/mcnish-alexander-house-10000959/"}