Three Squares Historic District (Boundary Increase and Decrease)

Three Squares is the downtown commercial and civic core of Glens Falls, New York, covering 23 acres on a plateau above the Hudson River falls. Ninety-three buildings stand within it, mostly two to five story brick structures. Fires in 1864 and 1902 destroyed much of the earlier business district, so most buildings date from 1902 to 1930. The district takes its name from three focal points: Fountain Square, Union Square and Monument Square. City Park lies near its center. Glen Street carries the most ornate buildings, with terra-cotta detail, corbels, cornices and limestone veneer. Examples include the Italianate Cowles block, the Neoclassical Rogers Building, the Beaux-Arts Empire Theatre and the Neoclassical City Hall of 1900. Seventy-seven buildings contribute to the district's character. Sixteen others, mostly mid-twentieth century or heavily altered, do not. Urban renewal demolition in the 1960s cleared land that is left out of the boundaries. Storefronts above the first floor are largely intact, and the district retains strong integrity.