Manion's General Store
Why it's listed
Standing at the main crossroads of Ferndale, a hamlet in Sullivan County, New York, this large clapboard building was erected between about 1915 and 1925 by brothers Fred and Thomas Manion. Fred ran the store and Thomas served as postmaster. The building has a stone foundation, a broad gable roof with exposed rafters, and a wide wooden storefront with a recessed entrance. Inside, the retail space and post office remain divided, with original shelving, counters, postal windows and a heavy central stair linking basement, two floors and attic. Upstairs, a five-room apartment housed the postmaster. The store supplied hardware, household goods, clothing, feed and groceries to Ferndale and the surrounding area during its years as a resort community serving Jewish vacationers from New York City. Fred Manion kept the business going until the late 1970s and changed little, so the building illustrates early twentieth-century commerce in a small hamlet. It was listed for this commercial history and its remarkable integrity.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the store is significant for its link to Ferndale's growth during the early twentieth-century Jewish resort era and as an extremely intact example of a typical mixed-use commercial building. It combined a department store and a post office, and its plan, shelving, counters and finishes survive almost unchanged because Fred Manion made few alterations.
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 04000285, listed April 15, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 52 Ferndale Rd., Ferndale |
|---|---|
| County | Sullivan County |
| Listed | April 15, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000285 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c1915-c1925 |
| Architect / builder | unknown (built by Fred and Thomas Manion) |
| Architectural style | no style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Fred Manion operated the store until the late 1970s and the post office remained until the 1980s; the form's current function is listed as specialty store. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.77393, -74.73897 (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 04000285.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6749794
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.