Merrillsville Cure Cottage
Also known as: Merrillsville Town Hall
Why it's listed
Built around 1900 in Merrillsville, in Franklin County, New York, this small shingled cottage once housed tuberculosis patients. It was part of a cure facility run by Elmer and Margaret Merrill, which also had a large main lodge and tent platforms. The cottage is a one-story frame building with a broad front gable roof and a glass-enclosed porch across its full width. Inside, four equal rooms each gave a patient direct access to a porch. Sliding glass panels, wainscotting, and wide doorways without thresholds reflect the fresh-air treatment popularized in nearby Saranac Lake. When the facility closed in 1920, the town of Franklin bought the cottage and moved it to the crossroads, where it has served as the town hall ever since. The main lodge was later lost to lightning. Alterations have been modest, including a records room that conceals one porch, and the original cure features remain largely intact. It is valued as a well-preserved example of a cure cottage and for its link to the region's health industry.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is a distinctive and exceptionally intact example of a cure cottage, a domestic building type adapted for tuberculosis patients, with features such as a glass-enclosed sleeping porch, wide thresholdless doorways and a four-room plan. It is also tied to the Adirondack cure industry and to a local sanatorium run by the Merrill family. Its relocation and later use as a town hall did not compromise its integrity.
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 95000947, listed August 10, 1995. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Jct. of Co. Rt. 99 and Old NY 3, Merrillsville |
|---|---|
| County | Franklin County |
| Listed | August 10, 1995 |
| Reference number | 95000947 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c1900-c1920 |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | In use as the Merrillsville Town Hall since 1920; one of four rooms was converted to records storage in 1971, a reversible alteration, and the building has no water. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 44.52182, -74.01413 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 95000947.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14706939
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.