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No pernicious discharges tonight!
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As an annual public service, Hoxsie would once again like to remind you: no pernicious discharges! Chapter 81 of the Laws of 1785 was passed to restrict your New Year’s Eve celebration options: “Whereas great dangers have arisen, and mischief been done, by the pernicious practice of firing guns, pistols, rockets, squibs, and other…
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Babbitt & Co.
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In 1909, Albany’s Babbitt & Co. advertised correct dress for women: In wearing our garments ladies can feel assured of being cleverly and properly dressed. We give our patrons the very best garments the world produces and at the lowest possible prices.We have a most complete line of Street Costumes in Panne Velvets, Chiffon…
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What Albany owed, 1883
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In 1883, the City of Albany reported that it had $3,191,000 in bonded debt. This covered a variety of purposes. There was $3,000 for the relief of drafted men in 1864. There was $150,000 for the purchase of the Congress Hall block, which was torn down to make room for the new State Capitol.…
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Merry Christmas!
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What would Hoxsie like for Christmas? Perhaps the first commercial Christmas card in the U.S. Printed right here in Albany, of course. Learn about it from All Over Albany. Then read about how the legendary poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” was first published right here in Troy. Then think about what it would…
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There’s something you don’t see every day
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A stereoscopic view of a very unfinished New York State Capitol building. I’m sure I could date this with some accuracy, but for now let’s say it’s somewhere between 1870 and 1880. I don’t recall if the design of Thomas Fuller, the first architect, extended to the second floor, or if that was the…
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The Museum Building
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The northwest corner of Broadway and State in Albany has hosted some kind of round-faced building for a very long time now. Shown here in this old stereographic view is what was called the Museum Building (sometimes, the Marble Column Building). It was built sometime before 1830 and from 1831 on housed the Albany…
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The Assembly Stairs, in stereo
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In almost any other structure in the world, this would be a view of a grand, showy staircase. But in the New York State Capitol, it’s the ugly stepsister . . . or at least the plain one. Overshadowed by the Great Western Staircase (also called the Million Dollar Staircase), with its inumerable ornate…
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The New State Capitol, sort of
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Another gem of a stereoscope from the Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Images at the New York Public Library, this one depicts the new State Capitol building in Albany. Except, of course, that it doesn’t. Not quite. While the image is undated, I’ve got to presume it depicts a model, and one built…
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The Albany Penitentiary
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(This article originally appeared at Alloveralbany.com) From petty thief to Lincoln assassination conspirator, if you were a criminal in Washington D.C. in the 1860’s – you were going to be sent up the river. Way up the river. To Albany. The Albany Penitentiary served for decades as the prison for the District of Columbia.…
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Westminster Presbyterian Church
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Here’s a single image from a stereoscope of the Westminster Presbyterian Church on State Street in Albany, one of many we’ll be looking at from the Robert N. Dennis Collection of stereoscopic images held by the New York Public Library. The photo is undated, but the church’s somewhat confusing history page says the church…