{"nrhp_refnum":"72000907","name":"Burden Ironworks Office Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Polk St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Troy","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.709835027000054,"lon":-73.69897659099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick office building with attic and basement, built 1881-1886 for the Burden Iron Company at the foot of Polk Street in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York.","why_significant":"The building is tied to the Burden ironworks, a major Troy manufacturer that grew under Henry Burden, inventor of nail, spike and horseshoe machines. It was built during the company's expansion in the 1880s and is described as appearing unaltered on the exterior. It also has a distinctive cruciform plan and ornamental brickwork.","narrative":"Built between 1881 and 1886 at the foot of Polk Street in Troy, this one-story brick office building served the Burden Iron Company, successor to the Troy Iron and Nail Factory. The company's best-known figure, Henry Burden, became superintendent in 1822 and invented machines for making nails, railroad spikes and horse and mule shoes. During the Civil War the firm filled large War Department orders for shoes. The office was constructed during a period of expansion after the company was incorporated in 1881. It has a cruciform plan, load-bearing brick walls with raised ornamental brickwork at window arches and quoins, a gabled and hipped roof, and an octagonal cupola with an onion dome. Inside, a central room is lit by a skylight above an open timber lattice. Republic Steel took over the building in 1925, and it remained an office until 1940. A print from 1886 suggests the exterior has not been altered. The nomination describes its condition as fair.","period_of_significance":"1880's (19th Century)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as an office building until 1940; the form lists its condition as fair and the property as unoccupied, with no immediate danger of demolition noted.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.216761-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72000907.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321184","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_Ironworks_Office_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4998267"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/burden-ironworks-office-building-72000907/"}