Lowertown Historic District

Lowertown is a compact neighborhood in Lockport, New York, set below the Erie Canal locks and bounded by the canal to the north and the Niagara Escarpment and railroad tracks to the south and west. Albany investors laid out its streets soon after the canal opened, hoping to harness water power. Market Street holds the most elegant stone and brick houses, typically two and a half stories with gable roofs and half-elliptical gable windows, while simpler frame cottages fill Garden and Fayette Streets. Notable buildings include the 1829 Lockport Bank, designed by Hezekiah Eldredge, the 1831 home later bought by Governor Washington Hunt, the 1854 Gothic Revival Christ Episcopal Church, the 1864 Vine Street School, and the Western Block Company Warehouse. Lowertown was the city's commercial and industrial center from the 1830s to the 1860s, then lost ground as water power shifted to Upper Town. It has largely avoided heavy traffic and keeps much of its early character.