A.A. Dunlop, plaster and guano

In the days before drywall, every wall in town was plaster. A.A. Dunlop was dealing plaster in Albany in 1863 from down on Quay Street, now lost among the ramps of I-787. He dealt in plaster, cement, feeds, flour and grain. He also dealt in Phoenix guano, which was not exactly the droppings of the mythical bird, but fertilizer imported from the Phoenix islands in Micronesia. In an age when modern fertilizers hadn’t yet been invented, guano was imported from impressively far distances to meet the agricultural needs of the United States.