Holland Land Office facts for kids
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Holland Land Office
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North elevation, 2005
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Batavia, NY |
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| Built | 1815 |
| Architect | Joseph Ellicott |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000521 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960 |
The Holland Land Office is a historic stone building in Batavia, New York. It was designed by a surveyor named Joseph Ellicott and built in the early 1800s.
This building was the third and final office for the Holland Land Company. This company owned a huge amount of land, almost all of what is now Western New York. Joseph Ellicott was in charge of mapping, selling, and helping people settle this vast area.
In 1960, the Holland Land Office was recognized as a National Historic Landmark. This was the first building in Western New York to receive this special honor. Today, it is a museum. It has many interesting exhibits about the company's history and the early days of the region.
Contents
Exploring the Historic Building
The Holland Land Office building is located on the south side of West Main Street in downtown Batavia. It sits between Ellicott and Thomas Avenues. The Tonawanda Creek is just south of the building.
The office is on a narrow strip of land between the creek and the street. There is a sidewalk on its east side. A parking lot is located on the west side, between the building and Oak Street.
Building Design and Features
The land office building is made of limestone. It has one and a half stories. The main part of the building is about 47 feet long and 36 feet wide. It has a roof covered with asphalt shingles.
A wooden entrance porch sticks out from the front of the building. This porch has a pointed roof, called a pediment. Four round stone columns support this pediment.
Above the columns, you can see black letters that spell "Holland Land Office Museum." On either side of the main entrance, there are two large windows. These windows have green shutters and stone sills.
Small windows with pointed roofs, called dormer windows, stick out from the main roof. On the sides of the building, there are more windows. The roof has an overhanging edge, called an eave.
Inside the Office
The main entrance leads into a central hallway. There is one room on the east side and two rooms on the west. Both of these rooms are used to display museum exhibits.
The building has eight special wall vaults. These were originally used to store important records. One of these vaults still has its original 10-foot-tall metal door.
The upper floors are used for offices and more exhibit space. There are also additions to the building that provide extra space for the museum.
A Look Back: The History of the Holland Land Office
The Holland Land Company was started in the late 1700s by a group of investors from the Netherlands. They wanted to sell large areas of land they had bought. This land was west of the Genesee River.
Originally, this land belonged to the state of Massachusetts and the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1797, the land was transferred through the Treaty of Big Tree.
Joseph Ellicott's Role
The company bought the land from Robert Morris. He was a very important person who helped pay for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Morris needed to sell the land because he had money problems.
In 1794, the Holland Land Company hired Joseph Ellicott. He was a surveyor from Pennsylvania. His job was to map out five million acres of land. This land is now in Western New York and parts of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
After the land was mapped and divided into smaller sections, Ellicott became the company's agent in 1800. He worked from the site where the Holland Land Office now stands.
Building a Community
Ellicott did more than just sell land. He also acted as the main planner for the entire region. He reported to Paolo Busti, the company's agent in Philadelphia.
A historian from that time said Ellicott was "the single most powerful person in the area" for the first 20 years of the 1800s. He decided to sell the land in small pieces. This helped small farmers settle the area. It was different from other places where large estates were created.
Ellicott had experience helping to plan the city of Washington, D.C.. He used this knowledge to plan the cities of Buffalo and Batavia.
The Office Buildings Over Time
The Holland Land Company's first office was a simple log cabin. Ellicott himself cleared the first tree on the site. In 1809, a timber-frame building replaced the log cabin.
The building you see today was built in 1815. It was the third and final office. It was made of stone to be fireproof and keep the important records safe. At that time, it stood alone on a large two-acre plot of land.
Ellicott left his job in 1820. The company continued until the mid-1850s. By then, all the land had been sold.
Later Uses and Museum Creation
The building was eventually sold. It became a music school first, and then a church. Changes were made inside to fit these new uses.
In 1894, the Holland Purchase Historical Society was formed. Their goal was to restore the building and turn it into a museum. Later that year, the building was dedicated to Robert Morris. His family and members of President Grover Cleveland's government attended the ceremony.
During World War II, the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) group leased the building to the American Red Cross. A cinder block addition was built on the back during this time. After the war, in 1948, the county took over ownership of the building.
The western frame wing, called the Robert Morris Wing, was added around 1970. To build it and the parking lot, a house next door was torn down. Seven years later, an east wing was added. This wing was first used by the county historian. Now, it is also part of the museum.
The last addition came in 1982. This small room was added to the back of the wing. It was built to display the county's 12½-foot gibbet, a historical display device.
The Museum's Collection
The museum has many items from Joseph Ellicott's original survey of the region. These include his measuring chains and a special tool called a transit. You can also see the written records from his survey.
An original copy of Ellicott's 1804 map hangs on one wall. This map is very valuable.
Iroquois Artifacts
The museum also displays artifacts from the Iroquois Confederacy. These include a bowl from around 1700 that was used for succotash. There are also wampum beads and a model of a longhouse. A longhouse was the traditional home of the Iroquois people.
You can also see an armchair used by Eli Parker, a Seneca elder. There is also a charcoal drawing of Seneca Wolf Clan chief Red Jacket. He is shown wearing a silver medal that George Washington gave him. These items are displayed in a room named after Eli Parker.
See also
