Written by Morgan Pigott, FCHS Intern
Historic places are all around Fulton County and the surrounding regions and we often pass by them every day without even noticing. Within Fulton County, there are 26 sites registered with the National Register of Historic Places. Each one of these locations comes with its own story and documentation. This includes paperwork put forth by the organization submitting the site for recognition, which highlights the importance of the site and documenting the history of the site through written text and photographs.
Right outside of Fulton County in Amsterdam, New York, sits the historic Greene Mansion. According to the Nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places, the home was originally built by Henry E. Greene, the youngest son of William K. Greene, a prominent weaver and carpet manufacturer in the region. Built around 1880 to 1881, the Victorian structure was nominated for a variety of reasons, particularly that it helps to illustrate industrialization of the region and also exemplifies the Victorian architectural style.
The Greenes originally founded the carpet loom business in Amsterdam in 1842 and the home remained in the Greene family until 1924. From the porch and bracket decoration with French and Egyptian symbols to the Tiffany-style windows, architectural highlights were constructed within the family home.
The nomination was approved on December 12, 1979 and the Greene Mansion site was officially listed on the registry. By the beginning of February, newspapers began to publish articles pertaining to the announcement of the new Historic Site. One article from The Recorder published on March 11, 1980 notes that “a tour through the Greene Mansion evokes a dedication of the imagination to the glories of the past.”
Utilizing documents such as newspapers and historical records can help tell stories about the past that pictures alone cannot. The National Register of Historic Places paperwork is available to the public and can be easily accessed through their website, or the National Archives database. This is a good way to access historical records and photographs of sites that may otherwise be hard to locate. Discovering more about local history and the history right in your backyard can be as simple as a short search away.
