{"nrhp_refnum":"70000432","name":"W. & L. E. Gurley Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"514 Fulton St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Troy","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.732428259000045,"lon":-73.68711051757296,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-03-05","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1970-03-05","areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick industrial building at 514 Fulton Street in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, built in 1862 for the W. & L.E. Gurley Company, with Orrison Salisbury, a Troy carpenter, as builder.","why_significant":"It housed a firm known worldwide for quality surveying and mathematical instruments and is described as a landmark of downtown Troy. The nomination calls it an outstanding and unusual industrial building that is architecturally compatible with the neighboring residential buildings. It also reflects the Gurley brothers' business sense, since it was planned to pay for itself through rented space.","narrative":"Built in 1862, this four-story brick building at 514 Fulton Street in Troy housed the W. & L.E. Gurley Company, makers of surveying and mathematical instruments known around the world. Construction began right after the Great Fire of May 10, 1862 destroyed the firm's earlier buildings on the site, and operations moved in on December 10 of that year. Orrison Salisbury, a Troy carpenter, was the builder. The structure is U-shaped around an open courtyard, with ten bays on Fifth Avenue and sixteen on Fulton Street, arched openings in every bay, and a corbeled brick cornice topped by a bracketed sheet metal cornice added soon after completion. Gurley used the second floor for manufacturing and part of the first for offices, while collar companies and retail tenants rented the remaining space. The nomination values it as an industrial building that fits well with the residential buildings on the rest of its block, and as the home of one of the oldest surveying instrument makers in the world.","period_of_significance":"1862 (19th Century)","architect_builder":"Orrison Salisbury, Troy carpenter (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition, unaltered and on its original site, and occupied when nominated. Related correspondence says the Gurley firm was moving and that urban renewal plans had considered demolishing the building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:38.664497-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/70000432.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000432/79fe9cb55d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000432/79fe9cb55d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gurley_Building_Wade.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.</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:Gurley_Building_Wade.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"16000367","name":"Central Troy Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/central-troy-historic-district-boundary-increase-16000367/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321319","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._%26_L._E._Gurley_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7945271"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/w-and-l-e-gurley-building-70000432/"}