Adams Commercial Historic District

Adams Commercial Historic District preserves the downtown core of the village of Adams, about 12 miles south of Watertown in Jefferson County. Attached rows of two- and three-story commercial buildings line Main Street, most of them brick and built after fires in 1860 and 1865 destroyed much of the business district. Italianate details such as bracketed cornices and arched window lintels predominate, with Romanesque Revival and Neoclassical examples also present. Notable buildings include the 1865 Cleveland Block, the 1916 stone-faced Jefferson County Journal Building, the 1921 concrete block Bundy Block and the Hungerford National Bank. A barrel-vaulted stone arch bridge over Sandy Creek, built in 1860, anchors the south end. A hotel, a former Grange hall and a machine shop are also included. The district was listed for its role in commerce and transportation and for its largely intact architecture from 1860 to 1921, even as business shifted away from downtown after Interstate 81 opened.