Johnson Hall State Historic Site

Johnson Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
New York State Register of Historic Places
A 1903 painting despicts the presentation of medals to the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy in 1772
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Location	Johnstown, New York
Coordinates	43°0′54″N 74°22′58″W / 43.01500°N 74.38278°W / 43.01500; -74.38278
Built	1763
Architect	Peter Harrison (1716-1775)
Architectural style	Georgian
NRHP reference No.	66000520
NYSRHP No.	03541.000030
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	October 9, 1960
Designated NYSRHP	June 23, 1980

Johnson Hall is located at Hall Avenue, West State Street and Johnson Avenue, in Johnstown, New York.

 

The house was built seven miles from the Mohawk River, close to Hall Creek. Hall Creek provided water sufficient to power a sawmill and later a grist mill. Built of wood, the house frame was covered with wood planks intended to simulate stone. Johnson engaged leading colonial architect Peter Harrison (1716-1775) to design the house; he hired the carpenter, Samuel Fuller, to build it. At least some of the ideas for the house came from the Builders' Companion magazine. Johnson also had two stone block houses built as defenses against attack on the frontier, as the British had just ended the Seven Years' War with the French. The stonehouses were also used for storage and other domestic uses.

Johnson founded Johnstown, New York, and came to own a 400,000-acre (160,000 ha) estate. Johnson moved here from Old Fort Johnson in 1763 and lived here until he died in 1774. The house was inherited by his son, John Johnson. During the American Revolution, the rebel government in New York seized Johnson Hall because the Johnsons had gone to Canada as Loyalists. In 1779 the state sold the house to Silas Talbot, a migrant from New England.

It was used as a private residence by various owners until 1906, when the state bought it for preservation and interpretation as a house museum of the most important colonial landowner in the state. It received restoration in the early twentieth century and in the 1950s, to remove additions of the late nineteenth century and better reflect its original time. The historic site includes more than 18 acres of land. The mansion and the West Stonehouse are the only original structures on the site; the East Stonehouse is a reproduction.

The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

• List of National Historic Landmarks in New York
• List of New York State Historic Sites