{"nrhp_refnum":"84002487","name":"Weir Greenhouse","other_names":["McGovern-Weir Greenhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"750-751--5th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.65904221400007,"lon":-73.99599318399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame and glass commercial greenhouse at 750-751 Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, across from Greenwood Cemetery, first built in 1880 and substantially rebuilt in 1895, with an attached brick office section.","why_significant":"It is described as the only surviving Victorian commercial greenhouse in New York City and a rare surviving nineteenth-century greenhouse. Its picturesque, asymmetrical massing reflects late nineteenth-century taste. It survived through its location opposite Greenwood Cemetery, continuous care and continuous use as a florist business.","narrative":"Across the street from the main gates of Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn, the Weir Greenhouse is a wood-frame and glass florist's building with a roof of glass and galvanized iron. James Weir, Jr., from a Scottish immigrant horticultural family, commissioned the first greenhouse here in 1880, designed by Mercein Thomas. In 1895 architect George Curtis Gillespie rebuilt it so extensively that little of the original survives. The rectangular plan is broken by a rounded bay, an octagonal corner entrance with a ball-topped cupola, a rectangular entrance bay on 25th Street and a large octagonal dome, giving it a picturesque look typical of the period. A plain brick office section extends to the west. Florists near the cemetery supplied flowers for nineteenth-century funerals, and this is the only such greenhouse left from several nearby firms. The Weir family kept the business until 1971, and the building is still used as a greenhouse and plant shop today.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"G. Curtis Gillespie (George Curtis Gillespie); original 1880 building designed by Mercein Thomas","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied, in excellent condition, and still used as a florist greenhouse and plant display space; altered, but on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.824166-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/84002487.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002487/62e7c6b3c4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002487/62e7c6b3c4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"LordAmeth","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McGovern-Weir_Greenhouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">LordAmeth</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:McGovern-Weir_Greenhouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318554","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weir_Greenhouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7980290"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/weir-greenhouse-84002487/"}