{"nrhp_refnum":"83001826","name":"Old Fort House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29 Lower Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort Edward","county":"Washington County","state":"NY","lat":43.26124087000005,"lon":-73.58047700399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, five-bay frame house with a gambrel roof at 29 Lower Broadway in Fort Edward, Washington County, New York, begun in 1772 by Patrick Smyth. It is now a local history museum on a roughly five-acre site.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the oldest surviving building in the village of Fort Edward. It retains eighteenth and early nineteenth century design features, including a transitional Federal/Greek Revival remodeling of 1839. It also served as a tavern, community center, British military headquarters and county courthouse.","narrative":"Begun in 1772 by Patrick Smyth, this two-story frame house on Lower Broadway in Fort Edward is the oldest surviving building in the village. Its heavy hewn timber frame was salvaged from the military fortifications of old Fort Edward, built 1755 to 1759. The house served as a tavern and as the Charlotte County courthouse from 1773 to 1775, and later as Washington County's courthouse until 1797. During the Saratoga campaign of 1777, British General Frasier and others used it as headquarters. In 1839 the Fort family remodeled it in a late Federal and Greek Revival manner, adding corner pilasters, six-over-six windows and a tiger maple stair rail. A 1943 fire damaged the roof, which was rebuilt in its gambrel form. Local business and professional men bought the property in 1949, and it opened as a museum that year. The site also holds a moved tollhouse, a moved law office and a c. 1910 concrete block barn used as a gallery.","period_of_significance":"1772-1773","architect_builder":"unknown (built for Patrick Smyth)","architectural_style":"Transitional late Federal / early Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in excellent condition; owned by the Fort Edward Historical Association and operated as a local history museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.082537-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/83001826.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001826/3b7b3a04d7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001826/3b7b3a04d7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Mark Kozlowski","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OLD_FORT_HOUSE_FT_EDWARD_NY_v3.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Kozlowski</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OLD_FORT_HOUSE_FT_EDWARD_NY_v3.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322857","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Fort_House_(Fort_Edward,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084028"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/washington-county/old-fort-house-83001826/"}