Near Westside Historic District

Near Westside Historic District covers about 77 acres and some 480 principal buildings close to downtown Elmira, between the Chemung River and Second Street. Its streets follow a regular grid, with tree-lined blocks, deep lots and, in many places, original slate sidewalks. Water Street, which overlooks the river, holds the oldest houses and was part of the town of Wisnerberg, platted in 1795. As Elmira grew through canals, railroads, mills and Civil War contracts, merchants and industrialists built large houses on the broad avenues, while middle-class families built smaller homes on side streets. The result is a mix of Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival buildings, along with a cemetery, churches, and a few commercial blocks. Four houses on Gray Street were built from dismantled prison camp officer barracks. Over eighty percent of the buildings predate 1914, and little has changed since the 1920s, though many houses have been subdivided.