Alvord House
Why it's listed
Fred Sehr Park in Salina, northeast of Syracuse, centers on a fieldstone farmhouse built around 1835. The two and a half story building has a gable roof, brick lintels, a simple wood cornice, two end chimneys and a five-bay front, with a bake oven projecting from the kitchen side. It was the main house of lands held by the Alvord family, whose members, Dioclesian and Elisha, were pioneer salt manufacturers and merchants in Salina. Dioclesian probably lived in a frame house on the plank road instead. An 1855 advertisement listed the farm's outbuildings, including two barns and a cider mill, and the sites of these remain as archeological traces. Later owners included the Brewster family, whose son Arthur wrote memoirs about growing up on the farm, and the Onondaga Pottery Company, which rented the house to employees for about forty years. Sold to the town in 1972, it is among the few reminders of Salina's early nineteenth century.
Significance in brief: The house was the main farmhouse of the extensive landholdings of the Alvord family, early salt manufacturers and merchants in Salina. It is one of the few surviving links to the early nineteenth century in a heavily developed suburban township. It also records the Alvord family's prosperity and the later farm life of the Brewster family.
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 76001257, listed August 27, 1976. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | N of Syracuse on Berwick Rd., Syracuse |
|---|---|
| County | Onondaga County |
| Listed | August 27, 1976 |
| Reference number | 76001257 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1835 |
| Areas of significance | Agriculture, Historic - Non-Aboriginal |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Unoccupied and owned by the Town of Salina; windows are boarded up and the house is proposed for rehabilitation in a later phase of park development. |
| Acreage | 9.5 |
| Coordinates | 43.08865, -76.13315 (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.
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 76001257.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4738337
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.