Berkeley Square Historic District (Additional Documentation)
Why it's listed
Saranac Lake's historic business center runs along Main Street and Broadway, where they meet at the "Y" long known as Berkeley Square. The district holds twenty-six buildings dating from 1867 to 1932, mostly three-story commercial blocks with attached or closely spaced fronts. Milo Miller's French Second Empire buildings, the oldest in the district, established business use of the street in the 1860s and 70s. After Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau settled in the village in 1876 and later founded a sanitarium, the tuberculosis cure industry drove commercial growth. Several blocks, including the Donaldson, Haase, Fowler and Roberts buildings, were built with recessed galleries and balconies so patients could rent rooms and take the fresh air cure. At the southern end, the Beaux-Arts Harrietstown Town Hall, completed in 1928 after its predecessor burned, has a domed clock tower, limestone trim and a marble staircase. Together the buildings form an urban streetscape that contrasts with the wooded Adirondack setting.
Significance in brief: The district is the intact historic commercial core of Saranac Lake, an urban streetscape unusual in the Adirondacks. Its buildings reflect the village's growth as a tuberculosis health resort after Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau arrived in 1876, and several have galleries and balconies built for patients. The Beaux-Arts town hall by Scopes and Feustmann is an unusual architectural landmark for the region.
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 88000114, listed February 11, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 30--84 Main St., 2--29 Broadway, Saranac Lake |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | February 11, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88000114 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Scopes and Feustmann (Harrietstown Town Hall, Haase Block); William G. Distin, Sr.; William L. Coulter; Paul Jacquet; William Scopes; Milo Miller (builder) |
| Architectural style | French Second Empire, Colonial Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival, Art Deco, Beaux-Arts Classicism and other late 19th and early 20th century revival styles |
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture, Commerce |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Twenty-two contributing and four non-contributing buildings; the form describes the district as retaining a high degree of integrity, with mixed commercial, office and residential uses. |
| Acreage | 9.53 |
| Within district | New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District |
| Coordinates | 44.32657, -74.13110 (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 88000114.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4892110
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.