Prince, Henry W., Building
Why it's listed
Built in 1874 on Main Road in the hamlet of Southold, the Henry W. Prince Building is a two-story, six-bay brick store with a front-gabled roof and a reconstructed full-width porch. It was erected for Henry W. Prince, who ran a general store in the east half, and G. Frank Hommel, a shoemaker who used the west half. About 29,475 locally supplied bricks went into its construction. Prince later bought out Hommel and became sole owner. Over the years the building housed a grange hall, a post office, the first telephone exchange in 1895, grocers, a butcher, clothing stores and an ice cream parlor. The Southold Historical Society acquired it in 1989 and uses it as a museum and archives. It was listed as a rare survivor of the commercial buildings that once served Southold's growing population, and as the only known surviving brick store in the village from its period. The town designated it a local landmark in 1996.
Significance in brief: It is argued to be significant under Criterion C as a rare surviving late-nineteenth century masonry commercial building on eastern Long Island and the only known extant brick store in Southold from that period. It is significant under Criterion A for its role in the village's commercial district, tied to the retail businesses of Prince and Hommel.
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 05000091, listed February 24, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 54325 Main rd., Southold |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | February 24, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000091 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1874-1954 |
| Architectural style | Late-Nineteenth Century Commercial Building |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to museum and archives use by the Southold Historical Society, which bought it in 1989; the museum space dates from the 1990s. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.06486, -72.42719 (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.
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 05000091.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5729713
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.