{"nrhp_refnum":"85003632","name":"Watts, Ebenezer, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"47 S. Fitzhugh St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rochester","county":"Monroe County","state":"NY","lat":43.15362552400006,"lon":-77.61369448499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick house at 47 South Fitzhugh Street in downtown Rochester, Monroe County, New York, built between 1825 and 1827 for Ebenezer Watts. Architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"It is the oldest surviving residence in downtown Rochester and a rare surviving house within the Inner Loop Multiple Resource Area. It keeps features from both its original Federal style and an 1850s Italianate remodelling. It preserves evidence of early canal-area residential development and the nineteenth-century townhouse character of South Fitzhugh Street.","narrative":"Built between 1825 and 1827, this two-story brick house at 47 South Fitzhugh Street is the oldest surviving residence in downtown Rochester. Ebenezer Watts, who arrived in Rochester around 1810 and founded its first copper, tin and iron business, later the village's first hardware business, had it built. The house began as a Federal style home with a gabled roof and an elliptically arched entrance with sidelights. In the 1850s, Watts updated it in the Italianate manner, adding a hipped roof, a cupola and frieze windows with cast-iron grilles. Original stairs and trim survive inside. After World War II the neighboring houses were demolished for commercial and civic development, leaving this one amid office buildings and a parking garage. It was converted to offices, and a 1949 alteration replaced the Italianate porch with an entrance vestibule. Its survival preserves evidence of early canal-side residential life in Rochester.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal, remodelled in the Italianate style in the 1850s","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition and used as offices; converted to office use after World War II. Alterations in 1949 removed the front porch and added an entrance vestibule.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.905321-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/85003632.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003632/4e8d2bb7ad-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003632/4e8d2bb7ad-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Hans Padelt, Photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ebenezer_Watts_House,_47_South_Fitzhugh_Street,_Rochester_(Monroe_County,_New_York).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Hans Padelt, Photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ebenezer_Watts_House,_47_South_Fitzhugh_Street,_Rochester_(Monroe_County,_New_York).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313632","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Watts_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5331749"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/monroe-county/watts-ebenezer-house-85003632/"}