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She Was A Player
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I was intrigued some years ago when I came across this gravestone in the Albany Rural Cemetery: CARRIE TURNER wife of John Mack, 1863 – 1897 She was a player, that taking her all in all we shall not look upon her like again. A contemporary publicity piece said of her: “An…
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The Pearl Street Theatre
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Writing in 1867, Joel Munsell described the second permanent theater building in Albany: “The next theatre erected exclusively for the representation of legitimate drama, was the edifice in South Pearl street, now occupied for the same purpose, and known under the sugar-coated appellation of Academy of Music. It was erected by a joint stock…
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A most laughable incident
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Speaking of the Green Street Theatre, Joel Munsell included the following story from the Albany Evening Times in a footnote: “A most laughable incident is told by a person who was one of the participants. During the first year of its existence, a number of the then wild young fellows, wished to enter the…
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The first theater in Albany
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Years after writing this initial post, Hoxsie undertook a much more thorough examination of the earliest theater in Albany, associated with the first theater building – you can find that story here. Joel Munsell wrote that the first building in Albany built for the purposes of a theater was a 56 by 110 foot…
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Theater in Albany
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Years after writing this initial post, Hoxsie undertook a much more thorough examination of the earliest theater in Albany, associated with the first theater building – you can find that story here. Despite being one of the oldest cities in the country, Albany existed for almost a century and a half without any theater.…
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Last of the Cocked Hats
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“We pass the residence of Dr. Samuel Stringer, of the revolution, still remaining in the block on the west side of Broadway below Steuben, but somewhat disguised by modern changes. This was the first house in which white marble was used for sills and caps for windows.Adjoining his office on the south, dwelt Gen.…
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Lines in Favor of Building the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad
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When Albany was the hub of commerce, connecting the great markets of Montreal, Boston and New York to the heartland and the new West, being able to get your goods to our ancient city was highly important. Connection to the major railroads or the Erie Canal was critical. What is now the Interstate 88…
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The Dutch Church burying yard
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Once again relying on Joel Munsell’s wonderful 1876 “Men and Things in Albany Two Centuries Ago,” Hoxsie has to share a description of the graveyard originally associated with the old Dutch Church: “Bodies were allowed to be buried under the church in consideration of the payment of a sum for the privilege. There was…
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Burying a pauper
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First Church, Albany (Photo credit: carljohnson) In old Albany, the Dutch Church was the primary provider of social services to the needy of the community, including tending to the care of the poor. Joel Munsell preserved the record of the burial of Ryseck Swart, a pauper in the church’s care: “I can’t refrain from…
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More from inside the Dutch Church
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No drawings of the interior of Albany’s original Dutch Church exist. Historian-publisher Joel Munsell once had a plan of the interior, but he neglected to print it and all we have now is his description, which continues: “I have a plan of the interior of the church, the ground floor taken from a pen…