Category: Albany

Every now and then we get on the topic of the Hawk Street Viaduct, the once graceful structure that connected Clinton Avenue to Elk across Sheridan Hollow. But I don’t believe we’ve ever before run across the idea that the viaduct should have had an elevator. The Albany Evening Journal of April 11, 1914…

So the Temporary State Commission on the Capital City had a whole bunch of recommendations, plans, schemes and dreams, all meant to further the goal of creating a new center of government (then called the South Mall, a little confusing as the word “mall” was then increasingly being applied to those newfangled enclosed shopping…

There were many, many recommendations by the Temporary State Commission on the Capital City back in early 1963. On their face, they mostly made sense, and if they had all come together in concert with the development of the Empire State Plaza, it really might have been a wondrous thing. But very few of…

Since last week we had a good look at what went on during the construction of the Empire State Plaza, we thought we’d take a look at some of the planning leading up to that, which fell under the purview of the Temporary State Commission on the Capital City. The Commission, chaired by Lt.…

The Albany Hand-book of 1884 noted that General Washington visited Albany on August 4, 1783 (not his only visit to the area), when he said that, “While I contemplate with inexpressible pleasure the future tranquility and glory of our common country, I cannot but take particular interest in the anticipation of the increase in…

All credit for finding this gem goes to Julie O’Connor over at the Albany… The Way It Was page on Facebook, and all thanks go to whoever found it and posted it to YouTube. Not entirely sure what year it was from, but it appears to have been the work of Helen C. Welsh,…

The Albany Hand-book of 1884 has this less than flattering description of the city’s parks: Albany has one spacious and beautiful park (see Washington Park); but most of the others are simply better than no parks. Academy Park. – Consists of about two acres, bounded by Elk and Eagle sts., Washington ave. and Park…

In 1881, the stockyards at West Albany were among the largest in the country, as noted in these paragraphs from “The Albany Hand-book”: Cattle Market. – The stock yards at West Albany are reached in 45 minutes from Broadway by the State st. horse cars, which leave on the half hour; or in ten…

In 1881 (and really, perhaps today, because I haven’t checked the city code lately), ball playing and “shinney” playing in the public streets were punishable by a fine of $1 for every person thus offending. Shinney was a form of street hockey, really, and it’s hard to imagine how that would have worked on…

The Albany Hand-book of 1881 reported that not only was State Street then a crowded market, but it was home to all sorts of auctions. “The principal auction houses are on State st., and many sales are conducted in the middle of that accommodating thoroughfare, the city ordinances providing that bulky articles may be…