{"nrhp_refnum":"12000341","name":"Automobile Club of Buffalo","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10405 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clarence","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.980046765000026,"lon":-78.6005649950618,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-06-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former country clubhouse of the Automobile Club of Buffalo at 10405 Main Street, Clarence, Erie County, New York, built 1910-1911 in the Craftsman style on about 33 acres of the original 69-acre property, now part of a town park.","why_significant":"It is significant under Criterion A in social history for the Automobile Club of Buffalo, one of the largest auto clubs in the country, which advocated for roads and fair motoring laws. It is significant under Criterion C as an excellent Craftsman building and a major work of the Buffalo firm Esenwein & Johnson. The period of significance runs from the building's construction to the 1957 sale to the Town of Clarence.","narrative":"Built in 1910-1911 on Main Street in Clarence, this Y-shaped clubhouse served as the country club of the Automobile Club of Buffalo, then described as the largest organization of its kind in the world. Buffalo architects Esenwein & Johnson designed it in the Craftsman style, with a low hip roof, broad eaves, clapboard and stucco walls, and fieldstone chimneys. Bryant Fleming laid out the grounds, which retain stone gates, a fieldstone wall and a small storage shed. Inside, a large club room with a vaulted ceiling, a grand staircase and brick fireplaces survives largely intact. The club promoted road building and fair motor laws while hosting members' social events. It sold the property to the Town of Clarence in 1957, and it became a public park. Its significance rests on that social history and on its architectural quality and the work of a leading Buffalo firm.","period_of_significance":"1910-1957","architect_builder":"Esenwein & Johnson, architects; Bryant Fleming (landscape); Metz Brothers, builders","architectural_style":"Early 20th Century American Movement: Craftsman","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Clarence as part of a public park; upper-floor rooms are used as offices and collection storage by the Clarence Historical Society. The clubhouse retains an exceptionally high level of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.819872-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/12000341.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000341/a080bc7351-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000341/a080bc7351-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Automobile_Club_of_Buffalo_Apr_12.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Automobile_Club_of_Buffalo_Apr_12.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317540","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_Club_of_Buffalo","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4826669"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/automobile-club-of-buffalo-12000341/"}