Elmira Civic Historic District (Additional Documentation)

Downtown Elmira's civic core is a T-shaped district formed by East Church and Lake Streets, covering about 18 acres north of the Chemung River. It holds county buildings, the city hall, an armory used for city offices, a post office, a YMCA and YWCA, private clubs, a library, an art museum and a church. Styles run from the Greek Revival Arnot mansion of about 1835 and the Italianate commercial blocks rebuilt after a 1866 fire, to the 1895 Beaux-Arts City Hall with terra-cotta ornament and the Neo-Classical Post Office of 1902. Much of the work came from local architects Joseph Pierce and H.H. Bickford, who designed seven buildings in the district and altered five more. The area grew from the county seat's early government buildings on Lake Street and from Elmira's canal, railroad and Civil War era prosperity. Urban renewal left the surrounding blocks with empty lots and modern buildings, which sets the intact district apart.