River Street Historic District

River Street in Troy, New York, runs along the east bank of the Hudson River, and its blocks between Congress and First Streets hold a collection of 19th-century warehouses and stores. Every standing building dates from after a fire in June 1820 swept through the city's core. Many have four-story street fronts and six-story river elevations, because builders used the bluff to add floors below street level. Surviving details include Flemish bond brick walls, cast iron storefronts, deep brick cornices, and a Richardson-influenced brick building of 1888 at the corner of Congress Street. The street was Troy's main commercial artery, where merchants handled grain, flour, lumber and leather goods bound downriver, and later sold stoves and other local manufactures. Steamboat offices, newspapers and a hotel also operated here. The district is recognized for its architecture and for its link to the city's commercial growth.