Fine Arts Center – Jefferson Street, Pulaski, New York

Pulaski is a small village (population 2200) located in the eastern portion of Oswego County, three miles east of Lake Ontario. It was settled in 1804. The early settlers were attracted to the area by the bounti-ful forests and the abundant water power for mills. In addition, the Salmon River was a source of fresh water salmon which became an important commodity in trading. When Pulaski was finally incorporated as a village in 1832 there were numerous saw mills, shingle mills, and wood-working establishments. The dense forests, however, hindered travel and there were no convenient trails from Oswego to Pulaski. Therefore, when the county was created in 1816 it became one of the few half-shire counties in the state. Pulaski became the seat for government in the east while Oswego governed the western half of the county.

A great fire in 1881 destroyed nearly all of the central portion of the town. Within a year, however, the merchants rebuilt their businesses in varied designs but predominantly in the Italianate style. The entire two-block commercial area is characterized by two and three story brick buildings decorated with heavy bracketed cornices, wide friezes, corbelling, elaborate lintels and arched windows. A majority of the buildings in the district have cornices and lintels formed by corbelled brick, but some possess iron cornices, lintels and sills manufactured at the Ontario Iron Works in Pulaski. In places the regularity of the streetscape is interrupted by highly decorative round-arched friezes and cornices topped with finials. Many of the commercial buildings on Jefferson Street retain their original storefronts.

Two of the structures in the district which were built after the fire were designed by the prominent regional architect, Archimedes Russell. Russell practiced in the central New York area from 1862 until 1915. The Kallet movie theater is compatible in scale with the historic district and was designed by Milo Folley of the Syracuse architectural firm of Sargent, Webster, Crenshaw, and Folley. The polychromatic facade of pastel-colored Carrara glass placed in a geometric pattern is characteristic of the Art Deco style. Although the auditorium has been divided in two, the original storefronts on the building remain intact.

The Pulaski Village Historic District is architecturally and historically significant as one of the most intact collections of nine-teenth and early twentieth century residential and commercial buildings in northern New York. Today, Pulaski continues to serve as the commercial hub for the surrounding farm area. The salmon industry is reviving and the village is seeking to attract tourists to the community. There is a high degree of pride among the people of Pulaski and an awareness of the architectural heritage which survives in their historic district.