{"nrhp_refnum":"85001523","name":"Middlefield Hamlet Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"CR 35, Rezen, Whiteman, and Long Patent Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middlefield","county":"Otsego County","state":"NY","lat":42.68733961600006,"lon":-74.8414090426422,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-07-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural crossroads hamlet historic district in Middlefield, Otsego County, New York, with 28 properties (24 contributing principal buildings and 8 contributing dependencies) dating from about 1795 to 1910, centered on Long Patent/Rezen Road and Cooperstown/Westford Road in the Cherry Valley.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is a relatively intact example of a typical central New York crossroads community that grew between 1795 and 1910. Its Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and Gothic Revival buildings and their close spacing illustrate early nineteenth century settlement patterns that have become rare. Its relative isolation and twentieth-century economic decline helped preserve its architectural integrity and character.","narrative":"Middlefield Hamlet is a small crossroads community in the Cherry Valley of Otsego County, New York, where 28 properties form a historic district. Most are frame houses built between about 1795 and 1860 in Federal and Greek Revival styles, along with a Greek Revival store, a Carpenter Gothic cottage and a transitional Greek Revival/Italianate house of 1859. The largest building is the Pinney Tavern, a Federal house begun around 1795 and given a portico about 1833; it contains a third-floor hall used by a Masonic lodge and wall painting attributed to William Price. The hamlet, first called Clarksville, prospered on stage traffic and water power, supporting tanneries, mills, stores, inns and a school. Later railroads and highways changed many similar hamlets, but Middlefield's relative isolation and twentieth-century decline left its buildings and layout largely intact. The district is valued as a clear example of how rural crossroads settlements developed through 1910.","period_of_significance":"1795-1910","architect_builder":"none recorded","architectural_style":"Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Gothic Revival (vernacular)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Most contributing buildings are private residences, with one store; the form checks the district as occupied and in good condition. Non-contributing features include a modern fire station, a house trailer and a barn converted to a residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:44.955726-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/85001523.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001523/c650f77069-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001523/c650f77069-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ca._1850_Carpenter_Cothic_Cottage_Middlefield_NY_Aug_10.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ca._1850_Carpenter_Cothic_Cottage_Middlefield_NY_Aug_10.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320960","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlefield_Hamlet_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14706960"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/otsego-county/middlefield-hamlet-historic-district-85001523/"}