Public Bath House No. 2
Why it's listed
Public Bath House #2 is a narrow two-story brick building at 27 Vineyard Avenue in Yonkers, completed in 1898 on a lot about 25 feet wide. Its yellowish-orange brick facade has a wide segmental-arched window flanked by arched entrances, five round-arched windows above, and a denticulated cornice with swags. A one-story brick ell extends behind. The city built it as the second of four bath houses for working-class residents whose apartments lacked bathing facilities. Designed in a plain Romanesque Revival manner, it avoided lavish display so as not to discourage poor patrons. Its layout of reception area, custodian's apartment and baths, with separate entrances for men and women, became the model for later Yonkers bath houses and similar buildings elsewhere. The interior was rebuilt in 1928. The city closed the facility in 1962, and the building was later gutted for church use. It remains the oldest surviving Yonkers bath house.
Significance in brief: It was the second of four original bath houses built by Yonkers to give sanitary facilities to working-class residents, and it is the city's oldest surviving bath house. It is an excellent example of Romanesque Revival design, and its plan became the prototype for later bath houses in Yonkers and a model for similar facilities elsewhere in the United States. It also represents the rise of municipal public health concern and a vanishing urban building type.
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 85003365, listed October 21, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 27 Vineyard Ave., Yonkers |
|---|---|
| County | Westchester County |
| Listed | October 21, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85003365 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Decommissioned as a bath house in 1962 and converted to a church use; the interior was gutted and has no significant features. Condition is listed as deteriorated. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 40.94037, -73.88816 (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 85003365.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7257323
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.