{"nrhp_refnum":"80002624","name":"Brown, Gen. Jacob, Mansion","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Brown Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brownville","county":"Jefferson County","state":"NY","lat":44.005399907000026,"lon":-75.98306565299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-11-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story limestone mansion in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York, built around 1811 for General Jacob Brown, on a large parcel originally designed as a public square. It is one of five stone buildings in the Stone Houses of Brownville group.","why_significant":"It is the most imposing of the five surviving limestone structures in the village, built of smooth coursed ashlar with Georgian/Federal features. It reflects the prominence and taste of General Jacob Brown, who became General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army in 1812 and hosted figures including President James Monroe, Joseph Bonaparte and Commodore Perry. It is also a representative example of early nineteenth-century limestone building in the St. Lawrence region.","narrative":"Built around 1811 in the village of Brownville, near Watertown, the Brown Mansion is a two-story limestone house for General Jacob Brown. It stands on a large property originally laid out as a public square. The rectangular block has a hip roof with eyelid dormers, four end-wall chimneys, and smooth dressed ashlar walls about two feet thick. The west entrance has an elliptical fanlight and two narrow sidelights. Inside are twenty-two rooms, each with its own fireplace, finished in fine woods. A side porch and a north apartment were added later. The stone was taken from the building site in the Black River Valley's limestone beds. Brown became General-in-Chief of the United States Army in 1812 and entertained President James Monroe, Joseph Bonaparte and Commodore Perry here. The mansion is the most imposing of five surviving limestone buildings in Brownville and shows Georgian and Federal features. The village now owns it and uses it as a library, museum and youth center.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian/Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the village of Brownville and used as a library, a museum and a center for youth programs; the form's condition box appears marked deteriorated or fair.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.767158-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002624.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002624/fe0e66b626-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002624/fe0e66b626-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GEN._JACOB_BROWN_MANSION.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</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:GEN._JACOB_BROWN_MANSION.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313290","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen._Jacob_Brown_Mansion","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5530800"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/jefferson-county/brown-gen-jacob-mansion-80002624/"}