Brandreth Pill Factory
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A 2009 view of the west elevations of office and main building, partially demolished in 2015
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Location | Water St., Ossining, New York |
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Coordinates | 41°9′58″N 73°52′10″W / 41.16611°N 73.86944°WCoordinates: 41°9′58″N 73°52′10″W / 41.16611°N 73.86944°W |
Area | 5.6 acres (2.3 ha) |
Built | 1836–86 |
Architect | Calvin Pollard |
Architectural style | Greek Revival, Second Empire, Italianate |
NRHP Reference # | |
Added to NRHP | January 10, 1980 |
The former Brandreth Pill Factory is a historic industrial complex located on Water Street in Ossining, New York, United States. It consists of several brick buildings from the 19th century, in a variety of contemporary architectural styles. In 1980 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Most of the original buildings succumbed to fire in the 1870s, but the oldest, a Greek Revival building possibly designed by Calvin Pollard in the 1830s, remains. Nearby is a corrugated iron structure that may be the earliest use of that material in Westchester County. The main building itself was one of the first to have Otis elevators installed.
Benjamin Brandreth made his family's popular medicine, said to treat blood impurities, at the factory, starting in the 1830s. The factory's construction was the beginning of the industrial development of the Ossining waterfront. It continued to be used for manufacturing until the 1940s. Some of the smaller buildings remain in use today, although the former main building is vacant.
The village had been considering a proposal to convert the main factory building to green housing. After a proposal to do so failed to gain approval, due in part to flooding concerns in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the owners demolished part of the building in 2015. The village claimed it was illegal as the permit had expired; the owners claimed otherwise.
The 5.6-acre (2.3 ha) site stretches along the north end of Water Street on Ossining's waterfront, close to the Hudson River and the railroad tracks of Metro-North's Hudson Line and Amtrak's Empire Service. With the exception of a modern warehouse facility at the end of the street, north of the old main building, they are the only buildings in the area, some still used for industrial or commercial purposes. The land is level due to the proximity of the river; Water Street generally follows the lower edge of a steep wooded bluff to the north end of the site, where a stream flows into the Hudson and opens a wide gorge.