Ansco Company Charles Street Factory Buildings
Also known as: Agfa-Ansco, General Aniline and Film (GAF), Anitec
Why it's listed
Three surviving buildings mark the site of the Ansco Company's former factory in Binghamton's First Ward. The complex once held more than fifty buildings used to make photographic films and papers, most of them demolished in 2000. The remaining structures are 15 Charles Street, a long brick and heavy-timber loft building that served as the paper plant; 17 Charles Street, a brick-clad, steel-reinforced concrete power house; and 219 Clinton Street, a concrete block warehouse built in 1953-54 as trucking replaced rail shipping. The first two date from 1910-1911 and reflect early efforts at fire-resistant industrial construction, including controlled interiors for paper manufacturing and fire-separated boiler and dynamo rooms. The warehouse represents the company's last profitable era in the city. Today the buildings hold offices, storage, a dance studio, student housing and medical offices, while keeping exposed brick, timber and steel structure. They were listed for their industrial history and their construction types.
Significance in brief: The three buildings are the only surviving structures of a once-large Ansco factory campus of more than fifty buildings. They illustrate the company's industrial role in Binghamton and successive fire-resistant and mid-century industrial construction methods, from heavy timber mill construction to steel-reinforced concrete and a wide-span concrete block warehouse.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 12000531, listed August 22, 2012. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 15 & 17 Charles, & 219 Clinton Sts., Binghamton |
|---|---|
| County | Broome County |
| Listed | August 22, 2012 |
| Reference number | 12000531 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1910 - 1954 |
| Architect / builder | Frank W. O'Connell, Inc. contractors (219 Clinton); warehouse designed by Ansco engineers |
| Architectural style | No style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Rehabilitated and in adaptive reuse: 15 Charles Street holds storage, offices, a dance studio and student apartments; 17 Charles Street is used as a physical therapy office. The surrounding former factory area is largely vacant land. |
| Acreage | 3.1 |
| Coordinates | 42.09109, -75.92835 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 12000531.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23091383
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.