State Street-Henry Street Historic District (Boundary Increase)

North of Binghamton's central business district, a cluster of 22 buildings along State Street and Henry Street preserves the look of a late nineteenth-century commercial and manufacturing area. The corridor began as the route of the Chenango Canal, built between 1833 and 1837. After the canal closed in 1877 and State Street replaced it, a second generation of buildings arose, helped by the nearby railroad yards. Most are brick, average about four stories, and were built between 1876 and 1935. Romanesque commercial blocks, a castellated state armory, a Queen Anne store, a cigar-factory complex and a limestone 1935 post office and courthouse with Neoclassical and Art Deco details show the range of styles. Businesses once included cigar makers, newspaper printers, grocers, a candy factory and a scale works. Most alterations affect only first-story facades. Intact streetscapes, consistent scale and high architectural integrity are the reasons for the district's recognition.