Glen, Abraham, House
Also known as: Schenectady County Public Library; Scotia Branch
Why it's listed
Built about 1730 on the north side of the Mohawk River, this timber-frame house in Scotia was erected for Abraham Glen, whose father Johannes Sanders Glen provided for a separate house in his will. The Glens descended from Alexander Lindsey, a Scottish refugee who obtained land north of the river in 1665. The main block is 2 1/2 stories, with heavy mortise-and-tenon framing, brick nogging, a stone basement and a steeply pitched Dutch gable roof. Wings were added in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century and about 1900, when Victorian and Colonial Revival details such as cornice returns and a wraparound porch appeared. Glen and Sanders descendants lived there until 1842, and the Collins family later farmed the land and created a park around it. Scotia acquired the property in 1924, and a village library opened in the house in 1930. It has been a county library branch since 1948. Few early Dutch frame houses of this kind survive in the region.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a rare surviving example of heavy timber-frame Dutch vernacular residential architecture from the settlement period. It is tied to the earliest European settlement north of the Mohawk River. Despite later alterations, its defining 1730 features remain largely intact.
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 04000708, listed July 14, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Mohawk Ave., Scotia |
|---|---|
| County | Schenectady County |
| Listed | July 14, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000708 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1730-1929 |
| Architectural style | Colonial/Dutch Colonial |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Exploration/Settlement, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Currently used as the Scotia Branch of the Schenectady County Public Library, within Collins Park; owned by the village of Scotia. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.82423, -73.95940 (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.
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 04000708.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q330010
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.