Lower Genesee Street Historic District

Lower Genesee Street is the oldest part of Utica, New York, growing up after 1795 around Moses Bagg's tavern and the ford of the Mohawk River. The historic district covers about 13 acres and 45 buildings, mostly three- and four-story brick commercial and industrial structures built between 1830 and 1929, with a few early houses on Seneca Street. Styles range from Federal and Greek Revival to Italianate, Romanesque and Neoclassical. Notable examples include the 1904 Commercial Travelers Building by Frederic H. Gouge, the ten-story 1904 building at 110 Genesee Street by Robert W. Gibson, and the 1812-13 house at 30 Whitesboro Street, once home to stagecoach and express entrepreneur John Butterfield. The area reflects Utica's role as a transportation hub served by the Genesee Turnpike, the Erie Canal and railroads. Despite storefront changes and demolition, most buildings keep original details such as lintels and cornices, making this the earliest surviving contiguous group of buildings in the city.