Ossining Village Cements Six New Local Landmarks

Ranging from a church to the Brandreth Pill Factory, the Village of Ossining now has six new local historic landmarks.

The Board of Trustees voted to designate the following structures as local historic landmarks at its February 19 meeting, Village Clerk Mary Ann Roberts confirmed:

Brandreth Pill Factory — 36 Water St.

Calvary Baptist Church and Annex — 4 & 7 St. Paul's Pl.

Mount Pleasant Military Academy — 23 State St.

James Robinson House — 30 State St.

Smith-Robinson House — 34 State St.

The sites were recommended for the distiction by the village's seven-member Historic Preservation Commission.

During public hearings held at the meeting prior to the designations, Historic Review Commission Member Miguel Hernandez noted some of the properties already appear on the Historic National Registery.

"The Commission is ready and able to assist the owners of these properties," he noted, according to the meeting minutes. "This is very important for the Village."

Mayor William R. Hanuaer also expressed his support for the recommendations, noting the buildings' importance to the historic feel of the downtown.

"This is preserving the downtown Historic District and is polishing the gem of the community," he said.

No one spoke out against the proposed designations.

In a on Patch, Hernandez spoke about the Brandreth Pill Factory, noting its listing in the  National Register of Historic Places.

Reasons for protecting some of the other structures by the village included a notation of "the best preserved early Gothic Revival Church in Westchester County" and the "earliest surviving religious structure in the Village of Ossining" for the current Calvary Baptist Church and its annex across the steet.

The village also said these two buildings were designed by influential New York City architect Calvin Pollard.

The Mount Pleasant Military Academy Library's much different style also earned it a place on the list. The village noted its "High Victorian Gothic style architecture utilized in an institutional context," as well as the fact that it is "the last remaining structure of the Mount Pleasant Military Academy campus, which occupied this location from 1814 until the 1920s."

Nearby, 30 State St. or the James Robinson House is recognized as being in the "Greek Revival" style. It is associated with Robinson, who was "a wealthy mid-19th century Sing Sing Village landowner, and Dr. George Hill, a physician, community leader and the first African-American physician in Ossining," according to the village board's agenda.

And 34 State St. is recognized as "one of only three remaining dwellings constructed of Sing Sing marble in the Village, and is culturally significant for its association with James Robinson and James Smith, two wealthy mid-nineteenth century Sing Sing Village landowners."

Are you familiar with these buildings? Do you think they add value to the village's historic downtown feel? Tell us in the comments.