{"nrhp_refnum":"91000721","name":"Cayuga County Courthouse and Clerk's Office","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"152--154 Genesee St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Auburn","county":"Cayuga County","state":"NY","lat":42.929877599000065,"lon":-76.56882508499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-06-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A county courthouse built in 1835-36 and rebuilt after a 1922 fire, with an attached 1882 County Clerk's Office, at 152-154 Genesee Street in downtown Auburn, Cayuga County, New York. A small lawn known as the Courthouse Green is included in the nominated parcel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the courthouse is significant in architecture as a monumental Greek Revival and Neoclassical civic building, and the polychrome brick Clerk's Office as a Late Victorian companion. It is also significant in government as the seat of county judicial and political activity since 1835-36. The 1846 trial of William Freeman, defended by William H. Seward, is cited as an early use of an insanity defense in the United States.","narrative":"Located on Genesee Street in downtown Auburn, this county courthouse began as a bluestone Greek Revival temple-front building with a large dome, designed by local architect John I. Hagaman and constructed in 1835-36. A fire in 1922 destroyed the dome, roof and interior, but the front and side walls survived. The building was rebuilt in 1922-24 around those walls, with a replicated portico in Onondaga Litholite, a new attic story and a new pediment. Behind it, the three-story Clerk's Office of 1882, designed by Green and Wicks in red brick with black brick banding, was later joined to the courthouse by a brick link. A small lawn, the Courthouse Green, completes the nominated property. The courthouse has served as the center of county government and courts, and it hosted the 1846 trial of William Freeman, defended by William H. Seward, who used an insanity defense. The buildings were recognized for their architecture and their role in local government.","period_of_significance":"1835-1924","architect_builder":"1835 courthouse: John I. Hagaman, Auburn (builders Bradley Tuttle, Truman J. McMaster and Joshua Hoskins); Clerk's Office: Green & Wicks, Auburn; 1922 courthouse: Carl Tallman & Samuel Hillger","architectural_style":"Courthouse: Mid-19th Century Greek Revival; 20th Century Revival, Classical Revival. Clerk's Office: Late Victorian, Italianate/eclectic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still functioning as the primary seat of county judicial activity; interiors of both buildings were extensively remodeled in the 1970s, leaving no significant historic interior features.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:46.131368-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/91000721.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000721/9f4df7f826-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000721/9f4df7f826-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Beyond My Ken","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cayuga_County_Court_House_Auburn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Beyond My Ken</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:Cayuga_County_Court_House_Auburn.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316693","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayuga_County_Courthouse_and_Clerk%27s_Office","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5055466"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/cayuga-county/cayuga-county-courthouse-and-clerks-office-91000721/"}