Berkeley Park Subdivision Historic District
Why it's listed
Berkeley Park is a forty-one acre residential subdivision in southeast Syracuse, laid out in 1911 by architect and developer Clarence S. Congdon. Built on a drumlin, its curving, climbing streets follow the natural contours, with terraces, elevated sidewalks, public stairways, shared drives, cast iron handrails and period street lamps. Berkeley Drive, a tree-planted boulevard, is the main street. Congdon imposed protective provisions limiting the area to single-family homes, with minimum frontage, set backs, limits on front-yard garages and minimum construction costs. The result is a neighborhood of early twentieth century revival-style houses, including English Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Arts and Crafts, Spanish Eclectic and Four Square examples. Local architects Ward Wellington Ward, Gordon Wright, Merton Elwood Granger and Dwight James Baum designed houses here. Forty-five percent of the properties were built by 1924 and eighty-nine percent by 1934. Of 137 properties, 126 contribute, along with the original road system, and the district keeps a high level of integrity.
Significance in brief: The district is presented as a cohesive cultural landscape that exemplifies early-twentieth century American subdivision design. Curving streets follow the hilly terrain, and Congdon's protective provisions controlled lot size, setbacks, garages and construction costs. It contains a consistent group of high-quality revival-style houses, some by prominent local architects.
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 02000055, listed February 20, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Strattford St., Ackerman Ave., Morningside Cemetery, and Comstock Ave., Syracuse |
|---|---|
| County | Onondaga County |
| Listed | February 20, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000055 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Clarence S. Congdon (subdivision designer and developer); houses by Ward Wellington Ward, Gordon Wright, Merton Elwood Granger and Dwight James Baum; landscape architects Rich and Putnum |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals (Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival); Arts and Crafts; American Four Square; Neo-Byzantine |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Landscape Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Retains a high level of integrity; the 1998 Labor Day storm destroyed many mature trees. Still used as a residential subdivision with a religious facility. |
| Acreage | 42 |
| Within district | Westcott-University Neighborhood Historic District |
| Coordinates | 43.03201, -76.12680 (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 02000055.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4892077
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.