417 East Buffalo Street

The main section of this Greek Revival house was built around 1834 for Anson Spencer (1809-1876), an editor and publisher and one-time president of the Village of Ithaca.

The house--and others like it in the 400 block of East Buffalo and East Seneca streets--typify Ithaca’s residences from the early to the mid-nineteenth century.

Characteristic elements of the Greek Revival style, which was popular from 1820 to 1860, include a two-story, three-bay structure with a low-pitched roof and a wide cornice, a front-facing gable with prominent cornice returns, and a main doorway placed at a side bay. Many houses had sidelights and a transom window around the front door.

Anson Spencer and his brother Davis founded the Ithaca Democrat newspaper in 1828. Anson was president of the Village of Ithaca in 1853. He was also a charter member of Cayuga Fire Company No.1 and of Ithaca’s first waterworks company.

Source: Historic Ithaca, Inc.

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