{"nrhp_refnum":"79001619","name":"Old Southeast Town Hall","other_names":["Old Brewster Town Hall","Old Town Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brewster","county":"Putnam County","state":"NY","lat":41.39422433100003,"lon":-73.61730629699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-07-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick Colonial Revival town hall on Main Street in the village of Brewster, Putnam County, New York, built in 1896 and designed by the New York City firm Child and deGoll.","why_significant":"The building is a small-scale public example of the mature Colonial Revival style, set apart by an unusual Moorish influence in its dormer hoods. It was designed as a fireproof replacement after earlier town halls burned in 1880 and 1882. It served as the seat of local government for almost seventy-five years and remains a community focal point.","narrative":"Completed in 1896 on Main Street in the center of Brewster's commercial area, this three-story, three-bay brick building served as the town hall for Southeast. It replaced earlier town halls destroyed by fire in 1880 and 1882, so the New York City firm Child and deGoll designed it to be fireproof, with masonry walls, heavy beams and cast-iron columns. The Colonial Revival design features a projecting two-story portico, engaged pilasters, a Neoclassical entrance with a large stained-glass fanlight, and three dormers with Moorish-influenced hoods. Inside, the ground floor keeps stamped sheet-iron walls and ceiling, while the main floor holds a two-story auditorium with an exposed wooden truss ceiling and a balcony. A c. 1900 addition originally housed a one-room jail. Rehabilitated in 1977, the building has remained in continuous use as offices, an auditorium and a museum, and it reflects the prosperity of Brewster in the late nineteenth century.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Child and deGoll, N.Y. City","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Continuously in use since 1896; restored in 1977 and used for community rooms, the Southeast Museum, and an auditorium for concerts and public functions.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.516118-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/79001619.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001619/2e67d431a7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001619/2e67d431a7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Southeast_Town_Hall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Old_Southeast_Town_Hall.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321042","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Southeast_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2018481"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/putnam-county/old-southeast-town-hall-79001619/"}