{"nrhp_refnum":"72000820","name":"Terra Cotta Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alfred","county":"Allegany County","state":"NY","lat":42.25758360100008,"lon":-77.78823319399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story building of brick and tile in Alfred, Allegany County, New York, erected in 1892 by the Celadon Terra Cotta Company as an office and display case. It was moved to a temporary site on Main Street.","why_significant":"The building is tied to the ceramic industry that once thrived in Alfred and served as an advertisement for the Celadon company's products. It was so effective that a replica was shown at the 1892 Chicago World's Fair. It also reflects Victorian taste and is described as a unique artifact of a past era.","narrative":"Built in 1892 by the Celadon Terra Cotta Company, this small one-story building in Alfred, New York, served as the firm's office and a display case for its products. About 16 by 25 feet, it is made almost entirely of the company's own bricks, tiles and ornamental tiles, with a Spanish-type tile roof and a decorative tile frieze that differs on each side. The company formed in 1889 after local clay proved suitable for quality terra cotta, and its greenish glaze inspired the name Celadon. The building advertised the wares so well that a replica was shown at the 1892 Chicago World's Fair. After a fire destroyed the plant in 1909, the office survived and became known locally as the Terra Cotta. It was slated for demolition near the Alfred University athletic field, then bought by the Alfred Historical Society and moved to a temporary site, with plans for use as a ceramics museum. It is valued as a reminder of Alfred's ceramic industry and of Victorian thought.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Celadon Terra Cotta Company, Limited","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Not in use at present; moved to a temporary site on Main Street, with plans to relocate it to a courtyard at the State College of Ceramics as a museum. Condition listed as good, altered and moved.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.708031-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72000820.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000820/cba0ee8700-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000820/cba0ee8700-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Denise J Kirschner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Terra_Cotta_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Denise J Kirschner</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:Alfred_Terra_Cotta_House.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85002323","name":"Alfred Village Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/alfred-village-historic-district-85002323/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316433","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Cotta_Building_(Alfred,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7703073"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/allegany-county/terra-cotta-building-72000820/"}