Au Sable Forks Historic District now on the National Register

AU SABLE FORKS | Earlier this month, a portion of the hamlet in the Town of Jay was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Au Sable Forks Historic District, which was added to the New York State Historic Register in December 2025, includes around 100 historic buildings, from the Graves Mansion on Church Lane and the Tahawus Cultural Center on Main Street to the several homes built after the 1925 fire that virtually destroyed the entire business section on the Essex County side. Residential, commercial, and municipal owners in this district are now eligible for historic rehabilitation tax credits and funding for structural repairs and interior improvements at the state and federal levels. "It opens those in the community up to incentives and opportunities so that they can keep their property up-to-date," said Town of Jay Supervisor Matt Stanley about the registry that does not restrict a property owner's ability to remodel, alter, paint, manage, subdivide, sell, or even demolish a building. "At the end of the day, the end goal, however, is to make sure the historical significance of the building remains intact." The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, objects, and sites significant in the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture of New York and the nation. Passed in 1966, the National Historic Preservation Act was intended to acknowledge the value of resources essential to the nation's heritage and to help protect them from state and federal development projects. That, and the New York State Historic Preservation Act of 1980, established both state and national register programs. According to the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, more than 129,000 historic properties throughout the state are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as components of historic districts. Discussions about Au Sable Forks becoming a historic district — a group of buildings, structures, and sites that are significant for their historical and physical relationships to one another — were first raised during discussions centered around the 2005 downtown revitalization plan. The town eventually decided to work with Town Historian Sharron Hewston to apply for a Preserve New York grant to become one. "We unfortunately did not get awarded for the grant," Stanley said in a previous interview. "So, the project went dormant for a couple of years until it was brought back up in our main street revitalization." Thanks to the Cloudsplitter Foundation, the town reapplied for the grant, and this time it was successful. The town then issued a bid and hired Adirondack Architectural Heritage to assist with its state application for designation as a historic district. Last October, the Town of Jay held a public information meeting about the proposed Au Sable Forks Historic District. Representatives from the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) led the meeting. They shared the benefits of becoming a historic district. Since Au Sable Forks is now officially recognized as a historic district by both the state and national governments, the Town of Jay is currently working with Adirondack Architectural Heritage to apply for grant funding to install historic district signs marking its boundaries. They plan to start with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, which provides grants to public properties and historic districts to commemorate their designation and share the achievement with their communities. To learn more about these programs, call 518-268-2464, email leslie.krupa@parks.ny.gov, or visit parks.ny.gov/preservation/programs/tax-credit.

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Au Sable Forks Historic District now on the National Register

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