{"nrhp_refnum":"72000886","name":"Strecker Memorial Laboratory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Welfare Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.752593508000075,"lon":-73.95819716799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small laboratory building on Welfare Island in New York City, built in 1892 to serve the nearby City Hospital and designed by Withers & Dickson.","why_significant":"The nomination cites the building's picturesque massing of elements of varying sizes and its contrast of smooth brick trim with rock-faced granite walls. It was also one of the most complete laboratories in the country when built. The designers, Frederick Clarke Withers and Walter Dickson, also produced other buildings on the island.","narrative":"Near the southwestern end of Welfare Island in New York City, this small laboratory was built in 1892 to serve City Hospital. Architects Withers & Dickson designed it; Frederick Clarke Withers had worked with Andrew Jackson Downing and Calvert Vaux and wrote a book on church architecture. At the time, it was one of the most complete laboratories in the country, with an autopsy room, morgue, blood bank laboratory, animal house, and chemistry and serology laboratory. The building is T-shaped, with a curved one-story vestibule, a gabled front section, and a taller flat-roofed main block with a skylight. Rock-faced granite walls contrast with smooth brick trim around openings and along bandcourses. A large arched six-part window marks the front. The third story of the main block was added later; it was originally two stories with a hipped skylit roof. It was listed for its architecture and its role in science. Records from 1975 describe it as unused and unrestored.","period_of_significance":"1892","architect_builder":"Withers & Dickson (Frederick Clarke Withers and Walter Dickson)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unused pending restoration; a 1975 letter states the structure is not in use and has not been restored.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:38.84993-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72000886.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000886/aed20b472e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000886/aed20b472e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Autopilot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strecker_Memorial_Laboratory.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Autopilot</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:Strecker_Memorial_Laboratory.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319965","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strecker_Memorial_Laboratory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q630320"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/strecker-memorial-laboratory-72000886/"}