Walnut Park Historic District

Walnut Park Historic District occupies twelve acres on University Hill in Syracuse, beside the Syracuse University campus. A three-block green space laid out in 1870 and deeded to the city by banker George Comstock anchors the district, with large freestanding houses facing it along Walnut Place and Walnut Avenue. Seventeen contributing buildings date from 1897 to 1930, mostly two- to three-story brick residences in Georgian, Colonial, Tudor, Jacobethan and Chateauesque revival styles, with a few transitional designs showing Queen Anne or Shingle influence. Comstock's influence limited development to wealthy owners, and prominent Syracuse citizens built elaborate, architect-designed homes. After 1900 the university and Greek-letter chapters acquired many of the houses, and in the 1920s they added the last architecturally notable buildings. Three later buildings do not contribute. Today the buildings are all linked to the university, and the park remains a preserved remnant of the University Hill neighborhood's earlier character.