Canandaigua Historic District

Canandaigua's historic core is a district of 354 properties, 338 of them contributing, built between the 1810s and the 1930s. Atwater Park, a landscaped village green on North Main Street, is its focal point, with City Hall, the Post Office, the Ontario County Courthouse and the First Congregational Church nearby. North of the park lies a large neighborhood of middle and upper class homes, with North Main Street holding the most elaborate residences. Howell Street is known for Queen Anne and Eastlake houses, and Gibson Street for Federal mansions. South of the park are the business district, with two- and three-story attached masonry buildings mostly from the third quarter of the nineteenth century, and working class neighborhoods along Bristol and Center Streets. The district joins an earlier North Main Street historic district with adjoining areas that share its character. Its boundaries exclude areas of modern intrusion and heavily altered buildings, so it presents the city's historic core with consistent scale, materials and craftsmanship.