User:Eddie891/Yates Castle

Yates Castle (also known as Renwick Castle or Longstreet's Folly).

Architecture
Designed by James Renwick Jr. and constructed from 1852 to 1855. On 16 acres, had 24 rooms. Castellated Gothic Revival mansion.

History
Built for Cornelius Tyler Longstreet. Sold to Alonzo Chester Yates in 1867.

Syracuse University
Syracuse University (SU) got (bought?) in 1905. The estate at this time was 14 acre. The Syracuse University Teachers' College was opened in the building in 1906. The Syracuse University School of Journalism was hosted in the castle upon its foundation in 1934. According to John Robert Greene's history of SU, Yates Castle had a reputation as a poorly ventilated and cramped building, but was also "well-known for its grand stairway".

Had two acres of land by the 1950s, surrounded by hospitals.

Urban legend of site on the Underground Railroad, not substantiated.

Demolition
In 1950, SU announced plans to destroy the building and construct a medical center in its place. The demolition was briefly halted in 1953 in the face of opposition from the public and National Trust for Historic Preservation. Demolished the next year, a wing of the State University of New York Upstate Medical University's Weiskotten Hall.

Described by Evamaria Hardin as "One of the grandest local expressions of the Romantic movement".

In 2012, a turret that was formerly part of Yates Hall was held in storage by the SUNY medical school. Part of the estate's wall still stands outside of Weiskotten Hall.