{"nrhp_refnum":"66000563","name":"Fort Crailo","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Columbia St. on Riverside Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rensselaer","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.63457822500004,"lon":-73.74937567599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1961-11-05","areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fort Crailo is a 2 1/2 story brick house on Riverside Avenue in Rensselaer, New York, on the east bank of the Hudson River. The older section dates from about 1712 and a rear ell was added about 1768.","why_significant":"The house is presented as a fine example of an 18th-century Hudson Valley house built in a Dutch style, reflecting its builders' background. It is also an important artifact of the patroonship system, the Dutch land-tenure arrangement that encouraged settlement. Its two sections contrast a defensive, fortress-like early building with a more open later addition.","narrative":"Fort Crailo is a brick house on Riverside Avenue in Rensselaer, New York, overlooking the Hudson River. Hendrick Van Rensselaer, a grandson of the Dutch patroon Killiaen Van Rensselaer, built the older section about 1712 on land that had been part of the vast Rensselaerwyck estate. His son John added a rear ell about 1768. The two parts show different eras. The early block has 20-inch-thick brick walls, heavy casement windows, batten shutters and basement loopholes, all suited to defense during years of conflict between the French and English. The later ell has lighter six-over-six sash windows and a more open plan. A well behind the house is traditionally linked to the writing of Yankee Doodle. The house is valued as a Dutch-style Hudson Valley dwelling and as a reminder of the patroonship system. The State of New York operates it as a public historic site.","period_of_significance":"c. 1707-1712, c. 1768","architect_builder":"Anonymous","architectural_style":"Dutch style Hudson Valley house with late-Georgian sash windows in the later section","criteria":[],"status_note":"Operated by the State of New York as a historic site, regularly open to the public with a trained historian explaining it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.372457-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/66000563_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000563/153dd00453-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000563/153dd00453-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"UpstateNYer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Crailo_2010.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">UpstateNYer</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Crailo_2010.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316030","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Crailo","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2750202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/fort-crailo-66000563/"}