Yates County Courthouse Park District
Why it's listed
Courthouse Park in Penn Yan, New York, is the only downtown open space in the village and anchors a small district of four brick buildings on about two acres. The land comes from Abraham Wagener's 1823 gift of a two-acre plot to the new Yates County for its seat. The Greek Revival courthouse of 1835 replaced an earlier building lost to fire in 1834. Beside it stands the Romanesque Revival County Office Building of 1889, built on the site of the former clerk's office. The Georgian Revival Old County Jail of 1904, designed by William Beardsley of Poughkeepsie, anchors the west side. The First Baptist Church, dedicated in 1871, is a Romanesque Revival building whose tower was rebuilt in 1899. A Civil War monument of 1883 and later memorials stand in the shaded park. The district was listed for keeping its nineteenth-century character and for representing the civic architecture of rural Yates County. Later rear additions are not conspicuous from the park.
Significance in brief: The district keeps the nineteenth-century park plan that grew from Abraham Wagener's 1823 land donation for the county seat. Its four buildings show Greek Revival, Romanesque Revival and Georgian Revival styles and represent the civic architecture of rural Yates County. All remain in continuous or adaptive use.
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 79001652, listed June 19, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Main, Court and Liberty Sts., Penn Yan |
|---|---|
| County | Yates County |
| Listed | June 19, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79001652 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | William Beardsley of Poughkeepsie (Old County Jail, 1904); others various, see inventory forms |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival (Courthouse), Romanesque Revival (County Office Building, First Baptist Church), Georgian Revival (Old County Jail) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | All buildings are in continuous use or adaptive reuse; the old jail's front section became county offices (County Building Annex) in 1978, and the condition is rated good. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Within district | Penn Yan Historic District |
| Coordinates | 42.66513, -77.05745 (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 79001652.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8050206
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.