Bates Block

Belle M Williams, Confectioner and Baker

Ithaca, NY

Carr & Stoddard (Charles W Carr and E Schuyler Stoddard), Merchant Tailors 

Arthur G Adams, Lawyer and Fire Insurance 

John D Beardsley, Awnings, 5 Bates Building

Norton Printing Co, Ithaca, NY

Multi-Family Construction: ; 

Roof of Main Structure: Non-combustible; 

Additional Sections: ; 

Porches: ; 

Outbuildings: ; 

Other: Wood frame back (W) third of Main Structure, "News" / Wall 1st floor only between Main Structure and #122 N Aurora St / See entry for #118-124 N Aurora St, "Bates Block" for additional description / Sanborn 1910 also numbers as #217 E Seneca St;

Bates Building-118-124 N Aurora St 

Charles W Carr, Merchant Tailors 

Arthur G Adams, Lawyer and Fire Insurance, 4 Bates Building

Norton Printing Co, Ithaca, NY

Bates Block -118-124 N Aurora St 

Potter's (Alvah B. Potter), Confectionaries, Cigars

H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY

Bates Block -118-124 N Aurora St 

Staffords Smoke Shop (Fred V Stafford), Cigars and Tobacco 

H. A. Manning Co, Schenectady, NY

118-124 North Aurora St. and 215-217 East Seneca St. Historic name: Bates Block

"Prominent three-story, thirteen-bay, ten-bay deep, painted brick Italianate commercial building located on the comer of East Seneca Street; North Aurora Street facade retains continuous cast iron storefront arcade with piers, brackets, and architrave decorated with classical floral and acanthus motifs; one two-bay display window storefront (remodeled late twentieth century) faces Seneca Street; upper stories retain segmentally arched windows, soldiered brick window hoods with corbel stops, continuous stone sills, and mostly historic two-over- one sash or one-over-one sash; continuous corbelled brick cornice capped by stamped metal cornice molding. Built 1872. Architect: A.B. Dale Historical note: Built for Rufus Bates for his grocery; cast iron facade was manufactured locally by Treman, Valentine, and Green; in 1979, the building was restored after a fire in the upper stories."

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Ithaca Downtown District, December 18, 2004

"Ithaca’s first store opened on this site in 1804. The Bates Block, thought to be designed by Alfred B. Dale, was erected in 1872, a year after Ithaca’s worst fire destroyed dozens of downtown buildings. Grocer Rufus Bates, like other merchants after the fire, used materials less flammable than wood, choosing instead brick and a new, reputedly fireproof material – the cast-iron storefront. In iron storefronts slender posts replaced the massive columns once needed to support heavy brick buildings, leaving more space for display windows. The Bates Block is in the Italianate style. Note the elaborate hood moldings above the windows and the wide overhanging eaves. The name of Ithaca’s leading foundry, Treman, Valentine and King, is stamped on the base of the second column from the corner." 

Historic Ithaca, DeWitt Park Historic District and Downtown Ithaca: An Architectural Walking Tour, 24. http://www.historicithaca.org