Category: Albany

Joel Munsell in his “Men And Things in Albany Two Centuries Ago” (1876) described the now-long-gone historic house at the corner of South Pearl and State: “What is now South Pearl street was only a narrow irregular lane leading to the Lutheran church and its burial ground adjoining on the south, bounded by the…

One last map because it’s too great to resist. From Joel Munsell’s “Men and Things in Albany Two Centuries Ago,” this magnificent diagram depicts Albany in 1695. The original was made by Rev. John Miller, chaplain of the English grenadiers. At the top of the map (which is the westernmost point – maps of…

Another view of Albany’s Lumber District, once one of the busiest in the world, to show what was there in 1895 and what is there today. At the time, the combination of Erie Canal and rail access made this an extremely important lumber handling center, and of course many other industries were settled in…

Lots of Albany streets look pretty much look the same as they have for centuries. Not the Lumber District. A time traveling lumber worker from 1857, when this map was made, would be amazed to find the streets, canals, quays, and warehouses all gone, with hardly a sign remaining of their ever having been…

From another 1891 Watson map, the Albany Rural Cemetery. I had no real idea that the lakes had names, though I’m sure it’s featured in all the books. Note that there was no road to the south gate at the time. Nice to see the estate of Louis Menand, a remarkable character you really…

The “C.M.” in C.M. Hawley, successor to Taylor & Hawley Book & Job Printers, was “Clara M.” Parker’s “Landmarks of Albany County” in 1897 said, “Among the numerous printing establishments in Albany it would be hard to find one where prompt service and fair dealing more abound than in that owned by Mrs. C.M.…

“Any watch you want can be found here, with price and guarantee always satisfactory. Diamonds, jewelry and silverware at Mix’s.”   When this ad appeared in 1898, James Cadwell Mix was getting on in years. Kollock’s “State of New York” from 1882 said: “Many advantages contribute toward making Albany agreat purchasing centre, and to…

“Sieg Illch, Tailor, No. 130 South Pearl Street. – In a review of the commercial enterprises of Albany it will be observable that some houses possess advantages over others in the same line of business, the result in some cases of longer experience and in others of a greater natural aptitude for the particular…

The destruction of Albany’s structural heritage is not a new topic. William Kent, in addressing the changes that had overcome Albany in the early decades of the 19th century, lamented the march of modernity. In 1854, he was complaining: “The architecture of Holland and ancient Albany was not that of Virtuvius [sic] or Palladio;…

On a February evening in 1854, a gentleman by the name of William Kent stood before the Young Men’s Association of Albany and delivered his recollections of Albany, which he had left 30 years before, and to which he returned, in his estimation, a stranger. As he described it, “Albany, in the first decade of…