Saint James District

Along a winding, tree-lined stretch of North Country Road (N.Y. Route 25A) in St. James, a district of about 90 acres preserves the look of a 19th-century Long Island farming community. Roughly 27 structures lie within it, most of them frame buildings. Three anchor the district: the Timothy Smith House, built about 1800 and later moved back and enlarged by Lawrence S. Butler; "Deepwells," a Greek Revival house built in 1845-1847 by George Curtis for Joel L. G. Smith; and the board-and-batten St. James Episcopal Church of 1853, with Tiffany stained glass. Other buildings include the 1873 railroad station, a general store now used as a museum, and a remodeled mid-19th-century hotel. The district was listed because it shows how a farming settlement gave way to an area of estates in the late 19th century, while keeping its rural character through local interest and zoning.