Last Look at Albany Schools of 1894

(Part One, which covered Schools One through Eight, is here; Part Two, Schools Nine through 21, is here.) Some time ago, we provided StreetViews of the school sites as they appear today; that’s here.

So, more of the souvenir guide to Albany’s schools as they stood in 1894, with no further insight into why some of the numbers were skipped in the guide. School No. 22, at 292 Second Street, was built by Frederick W. Brown in 1874. It had a stately appearance, and it’s sad that it has lasted 140 years (having lost its roofline decoration somewhere along the way) only to sit as a rotting hulk today.
Not at all clear what might have carried the designation of School No. 23 back in 1894; it was one of the structures that was skipped, but today there is a School No. 23 on Whitehall.

School No. 24 was constructed in 1893 by Fuller & Wheeler at Delaware Square, “cor. Delaware Avenue.” That’d be Delaware and Dana today, where this structure is long gone and has been replaced by the Boys and Girls Clubs building.

The last of the numbered schools in Albany in 1894 was School No. 25, another work of Walter Dickson from 1878. The guide says it stood at the corner of Morton and Swan; if it did, Swan must have been realigned, perhaps when Lincoln Park was constructed in 1901, for today the corner is a touch west of here, but the building is still in use and looks to be in good condition.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t include this view of Albany’s incredibly beautiful first high school. By 1913, it was replaced by the “new” high school on Lake, which was considered overcrowded within nine years. This edifice, which stood across Eagle from Academy Park, was replaced by the State Court of Appeals, which is also quite lovely.

Within the High School, the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, who in 1894 was Charles W. Cole, A.M., Ph.D.

Here’s a view of the Assembly Hall in School No. 24, the one at Delaware Square.

And one last view, the Kindergarten in School No. 1. The building still stands, but I wonder if any of the rooms survive as they were originally.