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The Pastures Historic District is a residential neighborhood located south of downtown Albany, New York, United States. Its include all or part of a 13-block area. It was originally an area set aside as communal pasture by Albany's city council in the late 17th century and deeded to the Dutch Reformed Church. As the city began to grow following its designation as New York's state capital a century later, it was subdivided into building lots, some of which were developed with small rowhouses. Many open areas remain today, and the houses have not been significantly altered. In 1972 the city designated it as a historic district and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. All but two buildings in the district are considered historic. One of Albany's busiest neighborhoods in the 19th century, the area fell into decline during the third quarter of the 20th as citizens left the city for the suburbs. Instead of the wholesale demolition of that era's urban renewal programs, the city government attempted to preserve and revitalize the area, evacuating the residents for years and demolishing some properties, a move that has been criticized as destroying the neighborhood as a standard urban renewal project would have. A recent mortgage fraud scandal has affected the neighborhood also, but it has once again become a diverse, fully occupied neighborhood.〔 〕 ==Geography== The Pastures Historic District is located on the south side of the South Mall Expressway that leads traffic from the Dunn Memorial Bridge over the Hudson River into Empire State Plaza, the modernist complex that houses New York's state government offices. The area is almost flat, rising minimally away from the river, in contrast to the Mansion Historic District, which rises up the slope to the west. The district boundary is described as Madison Avenue on the north, South Ferry Street on the south, Dongan and Green streets on the east and South Pearl Street (NY 32) on the west. Bleeker, Franklin, Herkimer, John, South Lansing and Westerlo between South Pearl and Green are within the district. The actual boundary was not clarified by the city and state until 12 years after the district was listed, and does not follow those streets completely, excluding some more modern properties and areas where demolitions took place.〔 As defined in 1984, no property that actually fronts on South Pearl is within the district. All the properties along the south side of Madison are included, as are those on the west side of Green. Just south of Herkimer the three properties on the east side of Green are within the boundary, and then one block south of South Lansing it takes in the rows on the east side again as well as the north side of Westerlo.〔 The entire block with the now-closed St. John's Roman Catholic Church is included, and the boundary follows Dongan to the South Ferry corner, where it turns west to follow that street. As at the northern end, all properties along the north side of South Ferry are within the district. It excludes the lot at the corner of South Pearl and follows the rear lines of houses on South Ferry to Franklin Street, leaving out not only the newer buildings along South Pearl but the parking lots behind them as well. It follows the property lines along Westerlo west of Franklin to include the houses on both sides of that street, then returns to Franklin again.〔 All the houses on both sides of Herkimer between Franklin and South Pearl are within the boundary. The parking lot that was once the western block of Bleeker is outside the district, and then the boundary returns to the rear lot lines along Madison.〔 There are 112 buildings in this 17-acre (7 ha) area. Only two are not considered contributing properties to the district's historic character. Many of the buildings are rowhouses in the Federal and Greek Revival styles. They do not fully cover their lots, leaving a considerable amount of open space in the district. Some of it is taken up by off-street parking, some of it is left undeveloped as lawns and parks, and a tennis court has been built on John Street between Franklin and Green (complemented by two others just outside the district). The only non-residential properties are three institutions: the former St. John's Church, its school and a synagogue.〔 School No. 15, the only educational building in the district, burned down in 1979, during the city's attempts to revitalize the neighborhood.〔 〕 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「Pastures Historic District」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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