Northside Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Champlain Canal
Why it's listed
Northside is a residential neighborhood of Waterford, New York, lying between Waterford village and the city of Cohoes along Saratoga Avenue. Its location beside a sixteen-foot drop in the Mohawk River made it a natural site for mills, powered first by King's Power Canal, begun about 1828, and later by water drawn from the Champlain Canal. Factories produced flour, buttons, knitted goods, barrels, fire engines and more. The homes built for mill owners and workers survive in a range of styles, from two nearly identical 1830 Greek Revival temple-form houses, built by Hugh White and William Mansfield, to small Greek Revival cottages, Italianate houses, a Victorian mansion with a mansard roof, and Colonial Revival dwellings. The White house was moved to Museum Lane to save it from demolition and is now a museum. The district was recognized because its buildings show the stages of industrial growth between 1830 and 1900 and the different social levels of a working community.
Significance in brief: The district's mill owners' and mill workers' homes, built through the 19th and early 20th centuries, preserve a record of how a mill community evolved. Its location beside a sixteen-foot drop in the Mohawk River, along with King's Power Canal and the Champlain Canal, supported flour mills and many other industries. The varied building styles reflect successive waves of prosperity and different social levels.
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 75001226, listed December 4, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Both sides of Saratoga Ave. (NY 32) from Maple Ave. to Roosevelt Bridge, Waterford |
|---|---|
| County | Saratoga County |
| Listed | December 4, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75001226 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Italianate, Victorian (mansard roof), and Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition is marked excellent and good, with both altered and unaltered buildings; the area remains largely intact and residential, with the Hugh White house moved to Museum Lane and now serving as a museum. |
| Acreage | 60 |
| Within district | Peebles (Peobles) Island |
| Coordinates | 42.78503, -73.69227 (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 75001226.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7059743
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.