{"nrhp_refnum":"85002863","name":"Wilder Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rochester","county":"Monroe County","state":"NY","lat":43.15537399500005,"lon":-77.61204721899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eleven-story steel or iron-framed, brick-clad office building at 1 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, Monroe County, New York, on the southeast corner of the Four Corners. It was built in 1887-1888 in a modified Romanesque style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building was Rochester's first modern skyscraper and its finest example of Romanesque-style commercial architecture. It was the tallest building in the city when completed. It is also the largest and most progressive design of architect A.J. Warner, and it marks downtown Rochester's shift into a financial and retail center.","narrative":"Rising eleven stories at the corner of Main and Exchange Streets, this office building was constructed in 1887-1888 at Rochester's historic Four Corners. Its steel or iron frame is clad in brick, with rock-faced sandstone piers at street level, terra-cotta detailing, and continuous arcading across the middle floors that gives it a Romanesque character. A round-arched portal on Exchange Street, with carved colonnettes, leads to the stair and elevator lobby. Architect A.J. Warner designed it with his nephew William Brockett for banker Samuel Wilder, whose Central Bank opened in the building in 1888. It was the tallest building in Rochester when finished and is described as the city's first modern skyscraper, showing the influence of Chicago School construction. Corner turrets lost their conical roofs in 1909, and the interior has been renovated several times, though the original structure, upper-floor plans and parts of an ornate iron staircase survive.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: A.J. Warner and William Brockett; Contractor: H.H. Edgerton; Iron Work: F.L. Hughes","architectural_style":"Modified Romanesque (Richardsonian Romanesque)","criteria":[],"status_note":"In use as an office building; condition fair. Pinnacles were removed in 1909 and the interior was remodeled in 1980. Storefronts have been altered, but the structural piers remain.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.220859-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/85002863.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002863/56923d8668-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002863/56923d8668-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Santanacarballo","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilder_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Santanacarballo</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:Wilder_Building.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100010188","name":"Four Corners-Genesee Crossroads Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/four-corners-genesee-crossroads-historic-district-100010188/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313616","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilder_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14707775"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/monroe-county/wilder-building-85002863/"}