Walter Brewster House

Built in 1850 (Greek Revival architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 14 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1892.

From the record

“The Walter Brewster House is located on Oak Street in Brewster, New York, United States. It was built in the Greek Revival style around 1850 by Brewster, who founded the village that today bears his name.”
Wikipedia article Walter Brewster House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 49 National Register listings published here for Putnam County · listed in 1978 · category: Building · built in 1850, Greek Revival architecture.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Listed as. Brewster, Walter, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. Oak St., Brewster, 10509
When was it listed? October 1978
Category. building
Town. Southeast town
When was it built? 1850
Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture
National Register reference number. 78001896 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

380 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 380 fires within 5 miles of Walter Brewster House between 2000 and 2020, burning about 358 acres in total. 31 started naturally. 53 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	172
Arson/incendiarism	53
Smoking	42
Debris and open burning	31
Natural	31
Equipment and vehicle use	16
Power generation/transmission/distribution	16
Misuse of fire by a minor	8
Recreation and ceremony	8
Other causes	3

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2009	Smoking	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
7 September 2015	Natural	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	NA
7 September 2010	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
5 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
25 September 2015	Natural	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	NA
25 September 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
24 September 2013	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.2 acres	Fire Department of New York	N/A
24 September 2009	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.2 acres	Fire Department of New York	not named

Every fire recorded in Putnam County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 24 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Walter Brewster House: 17 past producers, 5 prospects, 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Copper, Sulfur, Stone, Iron, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Brewster Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Croton Magnetite Iron Mines	Iron, Copper	Past Producer	1880
Granitic Gneiss Rock Quarry No. Gk-013	Stone	Past Producer
Hobby Pyritiferous Ore	Iron, Sulfur	Prospect
Hobby Pyritiferous Ore Opening	Iron, Sulfur	Past Producer	Unknown
Tilly Foster	Molybdenum	Occurrence	Magnetite, Molybdenite
Croton - Theall Magnetite Mine	Iron, Copper, Sulfur	Past Producer	1880, 1883
Croton-Mc Collum Magnetite Mine	Iron, Copper, Sulfur	Past Producer	1843, 1880
Croton-Theall Magnetite Mine	Iron, Copper, Sulfur	Past Producer
Brady Farm Shaft	Iron	Prospect

Every working recorded in Putnam County

Storms near this property

23 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brewster, the town this property stands in, in 23 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 17 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 2 hail, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$10,000	Tree on a house on Maple Road.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$10,000	Multiple large trees reported down on power lines.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$7,500	Many trees and wires were reported down just northwest of Brewster along Drewville Road.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$5,000	Power lines and poles were reported down in the community of Drewville Heights.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$3,000	A tree and wires down on Peaceable Hill Road.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$3,000	Scattered trees were reported down in Brewster.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$3,000	Trees were reported down throughout the town.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$1,000	Tree down on NY 22 southbound south of Birch Hill Road. Alternate lanes of 2 lanes blocked.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$1,000	Tree down and road closure on NY 22 northbound at Reed Farm Drive. All lanes blocked.
August 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$1,000	The fire department reported a downed tree.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	$1,000	A tree was reported down on Reservoir Road near the intersection of Lower Mine Road.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	-	A 65 mile per hour gust was reported by Brewster mesonet staion.
May 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	-	Multiple tree limbs were reported down across Route 22, blocking traffic.
September 2003	Heavy Rain	Brewster	-	Periods of heavy rain resulted in flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office reported the closure of Mill Road in Philipstown.
July 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	-	Thunderstorms produced high winds that knocked down several trees and large branches all in the same direction in parts of the village of Brewster and surrounding parts in the township of Southeast in Putnam County. A funnel cloud was sighted near North Main Street in the village of Brewster.
June 2013	Hail	Brewster	-	no account filed
June 2007	Hail	Brewster	-	no account filed
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	-	no account filed
August 2001	Flood	Brewster	-	no account filed
August 1996	Funnel Cloud	Brewster	-	no account filed
July 1996	Funnel Cloud	Brewster	-	no account filed
August 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	-	no account filed
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Brewster	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Putnam County

Maps showing this location

14 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1892 USGS Carmel quadrangle1:62500
1893 USGS Carmel quadrangle1:62500
1894 USGS Carmel quadrangle1:62500 - 8 printings
1928 USGS Carmel quadrangle1:62500 - 5 printings
1943 USGS Brewster quadrangle1:31680
1943 USGS Brewster quadrangle1:24000
1946 USGS Brewster quadrangle1:31680 - 2 printings
1947 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1948 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1958 USGS Brewster quadrangle1:24000 - 5 printings
1961 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000
1962 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
1965 USGS Hartford quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1986 USGS Bridgeport quadrangle1:100000 - 3 printings

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Old Southeast Town Hall	under 500 feet	1979
First National Bank of Brewster	0.2 miles	1988
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church	0.2 miles	1998
Gilead Cemetery	3.1 miles	1988
Old Southeast Church	3.3 miles	1972
Reed Memorial Library	3.7 miles	1980

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 78001896 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Putnam County	All 49 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.