O'Kane Market and O'Kane Building
Why it's listed
Two brick buildings face each other at the corner of Bartlett and Reynolds Streets in Rochester's Eighth Ward, about 1.5 miles west of downtown. The O'Kane Market, built in 1878 at 104-106 Bartlett Street, is a two-story vernacular Italianate block with cast-iron and wooden storefronts. Its ground floor housed William and Bernard O'Kane's wholesale and retail meat business, and apartments occupied the upper floor. Local craftsmen did the masonry, carpentry and graining. Across the intersection, the O'Kane Building at 239-255 Reynolds Street, built in 1889-90, fills an entire city block. It combines Queen Anne, High Victorian Gothic and Romanesque Revival details, including a metal-sheathed corner turret, a pedimented bay and rock-faced stone arches. Both buildings combined shops with apartments and are the only surviving commercial structures in an area of wood-frame workers' houses. They have been altered and damaged by fires and leaking roofs, and the form lists them as vacant.
Significance in brief: The visible text presents the buildings as the only surviving commercial structures at a neighborhood commercial node in a largely residential workers' district. They were built by the O'Kane brothers for their meat business, with apartments above. The O'Kane Market is a vernacular Italianate building and the O'Kane Building mixes Queen Anne, High Victorian Gothic and Romanesque Revival elements. The significance statement is truncated, so the full argument and criteria are not visible.
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 85002288, listed September 12, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 104--106 Bartlett St. & 239--255 Reynolds St., Rochester |
|---|---|
| County | Monroe County |
| Listed | September 12, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85002288 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | William and Bernard O'Kane (builders/owners); masonry by F. P. Stallman, carpentry by Henry W. Mardon, graining by Ward and Pierrepont (O'Kane Market) |
| Architectural style | O'Kane Market: vernacular Italianate; O'Kane Building: Queen Anne, High Victorian Gothic and Romanesque Revival elements |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Form lists the property as presently vacant, with work in progress; condition is fair, with roof water damage, fire damage and cosmetic alterations, though architectural integrity is described as intact. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Maplewood Historic District |
| Coordinates | 43.14298, -77.62627 (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 85002288.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7071839
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.