Hamilton Village Historic District

Hamilton Village Historic District covers about 56 acres at the center and southern portion of the village of Hamilton, in Madison County, New York. Streets radiate from a triangular village park, and the 157 contributing properties are mostly houses, along with commercial blocks, churches and public buildings. Settled in 1794, Hamilton grew into a trading center for the surrounding farm economy. Early survivors include Elisha Payne's c1804 house and several Federal and Greek Revival residences. Later houses show Italianate, Second Empire, Gothic Revival and Queen Anne styles, while fraternity houses on lower Broad Street add Classical Revival, Colonial Revival and Tudor designs. Most of the brick commercial blocks rose after an 1895 fire destroyed the business center, designed by architects from Binghamton, Rochester and Utica, and they keep their turn-of-the-century scale. The Colgate Inn of 1925 sits at the head of the park. The district was chosen for its intact buildings, tree-lined streets and period carriage barns.