{"nrhp_refnum":"12000532","name":"General Cigar Company-Ansco Camera Factory Building","other_names":["Agfa-Ansco, General Aniline and Film (GAF), Anitec"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"16 Emma St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Binghamton","county":"Broome County","state":"NY","lat":42.11294631800007,"lon":-75.94175424699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-08-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick and steel-framed factory building at 16 Emma Street on Binghamton's west side, built in 1927-28 for the General Cigar Company, with a historic power house and two non-historic outbuildings on the site.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an exceptionally intact example of early twentieth century industrial architecture. It is tied to two major Binghamton industries, cigar manufacturing and cameras and film. Its reuse from cigar factory to Ansco camera plant shows the adaptability of steel-framed industrial buildings.","narrative":"Rising four stories beside the rail lines on Binghamton's west side, this factory at 16 Emma Street was built in 1927-28 for the General Cigar Company, designed by a New York City architect. It measures about 62 feet by 402 feet and has a steel frame, brick walls, wood floors, metal industrial windows and a rooftop water tank. Double windows and insulated spaces served cigar production. General Cigar closed during the Depression, and the Ansco camera and film company bought the building in 1937 and moved its camera manufacturing there from older plants. A two-story addition followed in 1950. The site also holds a historic power house with a brick chimney. The building was listed for its association with Binghamton's cigar and photographic industries and for its largely unchanged industrial design. Today it is leased to varied tenants, including an electroplating shop, storage users and an art gallery.","period_of_significance":"1927-1950","architect_builder":"Alfred Freeman, General Cigar Co. architect; Bowie-Clark Construction Co., contractors","architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Entirely leased to a mix of tenants, including an electroplating business in the basement, storage on upper floors and an art gallery on the fourth floor.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.801997-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/12000532.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000532/cfe4627b79-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000532/cfe4627b79-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Tkeator","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Cigar_Company_Ansco_Camera_Factory_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tkeator</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Cigar_Company_Ansco_Camera_Factory_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312140","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Cigar_Company%E2%80%93Ansco_Camera_Factory_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23091636"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/broome-county/general-cigar-company-ansco-camera-factory-building-12000532/"}