Knickerbocker Historic District

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Knickerbocker Historic District covers 13.5 acres in Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, with 153 contributing and 2 noncontributing buildings. Its buildings include Colonial Revival, Colonial, Neoclassical and Italianate styles, along with later Ranch, Cape Cod and Modern designs.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register in 2002 under criterion C, with local significance in architecture, and criteria consideration G. Its period of significance runs from about 1904 to 1930, tied to William Genther's 1904 purchase of the South Altoona subdivision.

Physical character

Foundations are stone, brick or wood, walls are brick or wood under asphalt roofs, and stone also appears elsewhere on some buildings. Decorative details include pressed metal cornices, stone friezes, parapets, gambrel roofs, semi-octagonal bay windows, stained glass transoms and wood Tuscan columns. Two noncontributing single-family houses built around 1960 also stand in the district.

Historical context

The Pennsylvania Railroad built its South Altoona shops in 1903, and the South Altoona Foundry Works was completed in 1905; the district's earliest houses went up between 1904 and 1906. Genther filed a plan in 1904 dividing the tract into building lots, and the Knickerbocker Contracting Company, the district's builder, later sold its interest to the South Altoona Land Company around 1910. The district's residential and commercial use ran through its period of significance, and at the time of its listing its buildings served as single dwellings and businesses.