South Peterboro Street Commercial Historic District
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
This three-acre district covers most of the historic commercial core of Canastota, along two blocks of South Peterboro Street and a short stretch of Center Street. It holds 25 buildings, 20 of them contributing, mostly two- to three-story attached brick rows built between about 1870 and 1930. After an 1873 fire destroyed nearly all of the earlier downtown, the area was rebuilt on a grander scale. The most important group is the elaborately ornamented brick blocks of the 1880s and 1890s, including the Cronk Block, the Delano buildings and the Field & McMahon Block, which show Italianate, Romanesque Revival and eclectic Victorian detailing. Two early twentieth century buildings add classically inspired design. Many storefronts at street level were modernized, but upper floors often keep their original ornament. Individual buildings are linked to local figures and businesses, such as the Twogood House hotel, the Canastota National Bank, the Avon Theater and Farr Brothers Hardware. The district boundary includes only commercial properties with sufficient integrity.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Styles | Late nineteenth century picturesque styles (Italianate, Romanesque Revival, late Victorian eclectic) and early twentieth century classically inspired styles |
|---|---|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | South Peterboro Street Commercial Historic District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.