BETHLEHEM — Five years ago, on Valentine’s Day 2012, Slingerlands Historic District was named to the National Register of Historic Places, a database maintained by the National Park Service. On Sunday, Feb. 26, the Bethlehem Alliance for Historic and Community Preservation will issue a proclamation at the Bethlehem Public Library in recognition of the anniversary.
Displays, literature, a slide presentation and refreshments will be available for those interested in learning about the history of the hamlet of Slingerland, which was named for the town’s first postmaster, William H. Slingerland, in the 1860s. W.H. Slingerland was the first local postmaster, when the area was still referred to as Normanskill.
Slingerlands Historic District encompasses 102 contributing buildings and one contributing structure within the hamlet, developed between about 1790 and 1940, and includes notable examples of Italianate, Colonial Revival, Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Stick style, Bungalow style architecture. The John I. Slingerland home at 1575 New Scotland Road is located there; other notable buildings include the Slingerlands United Methodist Church, the Albert House and the LeGrange Farmstead.
Capital District residents could deem themselves fortunate to live in a region dense with historical architecture — and to have those who work to preserve those local memories. There are more then 70 sites currently registered on the National Register of Historic Places in the towns of Guilderland, Bethlehem, Coeymans and New Scotland alone.
Guilderland, which registered more sites in 1982 by a wide margin, currently has 45 individual sites registered — four of which are in Altamont and four of which are in the Village of Altamont — including Exhibition Hall, the Prospect Hall cemetery building and the Hilton House on Leesome Lane. Bethlehem has 11 sites registered, including the post office at 357 Delaware Ave. — three in Selkirk and two in Delmar and Slingerlands each. Coeymans has 13, two of which are in Coeymans Hollow and two of which are in Ravena. The Town of New Scotland has three, including Clarksville Elementary School, which is in the Bethlehem Central School District and under consideration for sale to the County Sheriff’s office.
The two-hour commemorative event on Sunday will begin at 2 p.m. in the Community Room of the Bethlehem Public Library.