Herman Melville House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.

From the record

“The Herman Melville House is a historic home located at Lansingburgh in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. It was a home of author Herman Melville between 1838 and 1847.”
Wikipedia article Herman Melville House (Troy, New York), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 128 National Register listings published here for Rensselaer County · listed in 1992 · category: Building.

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

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Listed as. Melville, Herman, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. 2 114th St., Troy, 12182
When was it listed? August 1992
Category. building
City. Troy city
National Register reference number. 92001081 - 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

1,228 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,228 fires within 5 miles of Herman Melville House between 1993 and 2020, burning about 834 acres in total. 69 started naturally. 238 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	701
Arson/incendiarism	238
Debris and open burning	98
Natural	69
Smoking	65
Equipment and vehicle use	24
Misuse of fire by a minor	21
Recreation and ceremony	8
Power generation/transmission/distribution	3
Railroad operations and maintenance	1

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	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	N/A
8 September 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
7 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
7 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
6 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
6 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named

Every fire recorded in Rensselaer County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 23 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Herman Melville House: 11 producers, 11 past producers, 1 plant. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Bloating Material. 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
Cohoes	Bloating Material	Producer	Sedimentary
Troy Plant	Perlite	Plant
Cohoes Mine	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Cohoes Mine and Mill	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Troy Sandstone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer	Sedimentary
Troy Sandstone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Cohoes Clay Pit	Clay	Producer
Cohoes Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
Cohoes Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
North Troy Clay Pit	Clay	Producer

Every working recorded in Rensselaer County

Storms near this property

32 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Troy, the town this property stands in, in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2021: 22 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 lightning. 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
January 2019	Flood	Troy	$350,000	A surge of ice and water from the prior day's heavy rain and snowmelt moved down the Hudson River and tore a total of ten vessels lose from their moorings above the Federal Dam in Troy during the predawn hours of the 25th. The vessels included tugboats, barges, a cruise ship, and a floating restaurant. Some of the vessels struck bridges, some ran aground, and at least one sunk. The loose vessels prompted the closing of several bridges between Troy and Albany over the Hudson during the morning rush hour, including the Patroon Island Bridge that carries Interstate 90. Amtrak trains crossing the river were forced to reduce their speed as a precaution. The vessels were secured by 11 am. Monetary damage amounts were estimated.
May 2016	Lightning	Troy	$50,000	Lightning struck a home on Lindsey Drive in Brunswick. The lightning struck the chimney and traveled down through the walls to the basement, where it started a fire. The home was reported to have significant damage.
May 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$50,000	A large tree fell onto a house on 109th Street in Troy due to strong thunderstorm winds. Also, wires were reported down.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$35,000	no account filed
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$25,000	no account filed
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$25,000	no account filed
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$25,000	no account filed
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$20,000	no account filed
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$18,000	no account filed
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$5,000	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$5,000	no account filed
August 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$5,000	no account filed
August 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$5,000	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$5,000	no account filed
August 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	$4,000	no account filed
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	A large tree was downed across North Lake Avenue and Kestner Lane near Sycaway.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Wires were downed across the road at North Lake Avenue and Valley View Drive near Sycaway.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Tree branches were downed onto wires.
August 2019	Flash Flood	Troy	-	Several inches of water rushed down Sixth Street, Federal Street and Hoosick Street. There was also a few feet of standing water in places downtown. Roadways were closed due to damage and debris on Federal Street, Sage Avenue and Peoples Avenue.
July 2015	Flash Flood	Troy	-	Heavy rainfall from thunderstorms led to flash flooding in the city of Troy. A portion of Second Avenue (U.S. Route 4) was temporarily closed due to a foot and a half of flood waters across the roadway.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Trees were reported down in the Lansingburgh section of Troy due to thunderstorm winds.
August 2015	Hail	Troy	-	Penny size hail was reported during a thunderstorm in Troy.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Trees and wires were reported down in the Lansinburgh section of Troy due to thunderstorm winds.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Trees and wires were reported down at 102nd Street and 8th Avenue in Troy due to strong thunderstorm winds.
August 2011	Flash Flood	Troy	-	Route 7 across Rensselaer County was closed due to numerous reports of flooding.
July 2009	Flash Flood	Troy	-	Several roads were closed in North Troy due to flash flooding from very heavy rainfall with several vehicles stuck in the flood waters.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and wires in several portions of Troy. Also, a roof was partially blown off of a building.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Law enforcement personnel reported trees and wire were blown down in Troy.
September 2006	Hail	Troy	-	Law enforcement personnel reported that penny-sized hail occurred in Troy.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Troy	-	Trees down
June 2002	Hail	Troy	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Troy	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rensselaer County

Maps showing this location

15 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.

1893 USGS Cohoes quadrangle1:62500
1895 USGS Cohoes quadrangle1:62500
1898 USGS Cohoes quadrangle1:62500 - 8 printings
1929 USGS Cohoes quadrangle1:62500 - 4 printings
1947 USGS Cohoes quadrangle1:62500
1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1949 USGS Cohoes quadrangle1:62500 - 2 printings
1954 USGS Troy North quadrangle1:24000 - 4 printings
1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1978 USGS Troy North quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Albany quadrangle1:100000
1989 USGS Albany quadrangle1:100000 - 2 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
Central Lansingburgh Historic District	0.1 miles	2023
Lansingburgh Academy	0.1 miles	1976
First Presbyterian Church of Lansingburgh	0.2 miles	2022
Trinity Church Lansingburgh	0.2 miles	1995
Methodist Episcopal Church of Lansingburgh	0.2 miles	2016
Catholic Central High School	0.4 miles	2024

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 92001081 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Rensselaer County	All 128 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.