Downtown Gloversville Historic District

Downtown Gloversville is a compact commercial and civic district in a small industrial city in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Built around the X-shaped "four corners" where Main and Fulton Streets meet, it includes 92 buildings, 78 of which contribute to its historic character. Most date from the 1870-1900 boom, when leather processing and glove manufacturing made the city prosperous. Typical buildings are three-story brick blocks with Italianate bracketed cornices, alongside Second Empire, Romanesque, Neoclassical, Renaissance Revival and Art Deco examples. Landmarks include the Kasson Opera House, the Kingsborough Hotel, two bank buildings with columned porticos, the Free Library, and several churches. Architects from Troy, New York City and Gloversville designed some of them. Scale, density and the use of brick give the area a cohesive look, even though most storefronts have been altered and a few demolitions have left gaps. The district was recognized for the integrity and variety of its architecture and for how it records the city's five stages of growth.