|
The former Alexander Classical School, today Alexander Town Hall, is located on Buffalo Street in Alexander, New York, United States. It is a three-story cobblestone building erected in the 1830s. It has a number of distinctions among cobblestone buildings, many of which are located in the region of New York south of Lake Ontario where the cobblestones used were sourced. It is one of the few to reach three stories high,〔 and one of the few originally designed for educational purposes. It is the only one anywhere in North America currently used as a public building.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://townofalexander.com/history.htm )〕 The upper floor serves as a local history museum. First home to a private school, it later became a public school building after the private school failed. When that ended, the building became the town hall. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973,〔 the southernmost listing in Genesee County and the only cobblestone building listed in the county. ==Building== The building is located on the north side of Buffalo Street, roughly a quarter-mile (500 m) east of where it forks south from U.S. Route 20, of which it was once part. Alexander Central School is just across the street; the other buildings in the area are residential. The land slopes down towards Tonawanda Creek to the east.〔 Tall mature trees along Buffalo Street provide shade. A narrow walk in the middle of the lawn goes the depth of the setback, equivalent to the distance to the rear wall of neighboring houses. In the rear, on Church Street, is a large parking lot for town officials and employees. The building itself is a three-story five-by-four-bay structure faced in cobblestones wide on the front set amid mortar. There are three rows of cobblestones per limestone quoin on the front and four per quoin on the end walls, where the stones are wide. The windowsills, lintels and water table are also of limestone.〔 Atop the building is a hip roof. A balustrade surrounds the cupola, with a rounded roof and overhanging cornice. At the northeast corner a single brick chimney pierces the roof. A fire escape is on the north wall near a one-story wood frame addition, and a concrete block garage projects from the west wall.〔 Stone steps rise to the original main entrance in the center of the south facade (the town uses the rear of the building as the main entrance, and gives its address as 3350 Church Street). The paneled front door is slightly recessed. It is flanked by round smooth Doric columns and sidelights. A transom above has been filled in with wood and the words "Town Hall" written on it.〔 The door opens onto a central hallway with large meeting rooms used by both town and village on either side. The second story is given over almost completely to another large meeting room and the third floor used as a museum. Some original finishings, such as plaster ceilings, high wooden wainscoting and deep window frames, remain from its early 20th century use as a public school.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alexander Classical School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|