Genesee Street Hill-Limestone Plaza Historic District

Fayetteville's historic core is a district of 42 buildings along East Genesee Street and around Limestone Plaza, Academy Street and Brooklea Drive. Most date from 1820 to 1885, when the nearby Erie Canal brought prosperity to the village. Brick commercial blocks stand near Limestone Creek, while houses line the hill up to two churches at the eastern edge. The houses show Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick and Colonial Revival styles, yet share a similar scale, setback and materials. Many began as small 1½-story homes that were later enlarged or remodeled. The district has ties to several people: Grover Cleveland lived in a Greek Revival parsonage on Academy Street and worked in a Limestone Plaza store, and Matilda Joslyn Gage's home on East Genesee Street was a center of abolitionist and suffrage activity. Only two modern buildings from the 1960s intrude, and the district retains a notable visual unity.