Edwards Building
Why it's listed
Edwards Building is a seven-story department store at 26-34 St. Paul Street in downtown Rochester, completed in 1908 from designs by Crandall & Strobel. Its steel skeletal frame is clad in white terra cotta, with Neoclassical details in a Renaissance design. The lower zone has oval patterns, tripartite bays and mullions decorated with rosettes, while the upper spandrels carry a woven diamond pattern. The L-shaped building wraps around the Cox Building and fills its entire lot. The Edwards firm, founded in 1905, ran a successful store here and in the linked Cornwall Building until it went into receivership in 1965. Together with Sibley's, Forman's and McCurdy's it formed the core of east-side department store retailing. Later the complex became a mini-mall called The Mill, which closed in 1978, and the buildings have since stood vacant. The building is valued for its blend of materials, style and ornament, and for its link to Rochester's retail history.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it an intact early twentieth century Renaissance-style department store of skeletal construction. It is one of two terra-cotta clad buildings in the multiple resource area. It is also tied to the growth of Rochester's retail and department store trade through the Edwards firm.
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 84000287, listed October 11, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 26-34 St. Paul St., Rochester |
|---|---|
| County | Monroe County |
| Listed | October 11, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84000287 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Crandall & Strobel (architect); Edwards Department Store (builder) |
| Architectural style | Renaissance style with Neoclassical details |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Vacant since The Mill closed in 1978; condition rated good; first-floor terra cotta covered with Carrara glass in the 1940s. A developer bought the complex in 1981 for office redevelopment. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 43.15743, -77.60894 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 84000287.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5346091
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.