-
The Mohawk Overall Company
•
Saw this old postcard posted on the “Schenectady History – Photos and Discussions” Facebook group the other day, and it set us to wondering why we had never heard of the Mohawk Overall Company. It turns out it wasn’t around very long. The Mohawk Overall Company opened up in Schenectady in 1909, with a…
-
Schenectady’s Hershey Beverage Corporation
•
Time was when there were many, many local soda manufacturers. Yes, the national brands existed, but every city had a bottler or two that made up their own sodas. We ran across this ad and had to admit we hadn’t heard of Mohawk Club, or the Hershey Beverage Corporation. An article in the Gazette…
-
The Library and the Law
•
Since we recently featured the old Schenectady Public Library, which sat at the corner of Union Street and Seward Place for nearly 66 years, thanks largely to the beneficence of Andrew Carnegie and Union College. A 1930 article in the Schenectady Gazette proclaimed that “Book Thieves Here Are Rare,” and went on to offer…
-
Schenectady Public Library
•
Still in the Electric City, looking at lovely postcard views – here, the classic building that housed the Schenectady Public Library for nearly 66 years. Happily, legendary Schenectady Gazette reporter and chronicler of local history Larry Hart gave us the history of the Schenectady public library in commemorating the 75th anniversary of the system…
-
The Time Capsule in Schenectady’s City Hall
•
This is a postcard view of Schenectady’s City Hall, the classic Federalist hall designed by McKim, Mead & White and constructed 1931-1933. MMW won a competition among seven firms, three from Schenectady. Some elements of the design were actually prescribed by the city, which apparently wanted something that would complement the Post Office and…
-
State Street, just a few years later.
•
Last time, we looked up Schenectady’s State Street from the railroad bridge, probably sometime in the late ’30s or ’40s. This time, nearly the same view, sometime in the 1950s. Jay Jewelers is still on the corner on the left, but its loverly perpendicular sign over the street is gone. Here we can also…
-
State Street, Schenectady
•
Let’s leave Albany for a while and look at the Electric City. Another view from the Tichnor Collection at Digitalcommonwealth.org, this time of Schenectady’s State Street, looking east from the railroad overpass, with Broadway/North Center Street crossing. This was likely late 1930s or early 1940s (car dating nerds, help us out). Immediately to the…
-
Albany, the booming bustling bee-hive!
•
The November 1916 issue of “The Elevator Constructor,” the official organ of the International Union of Elevator Constructors (part of the American Federation of Labor), featured correspondence from Charles Nicholson of Albany’s Local No. 35. Brother Nicholson could barely contain his excitement at all the goings on in Albany and beyond – lots of…
-
Plane Boys
•
Speaking of Schenectady staples, that faded WGY Coin and Stamp sign was on the side of an old building, now gone, that we best remember as housing Plane Boys. A source of auto parts ad accessories, they also provided automotive service. Anti-freeze, dri-gas, snow tires, and Delco batteries. And sporting goods. Oh, yeah, and…
-
Ran-Zee Sign
•
Another old picture from a stray wander around Schenectady, already 10 years ago. On an old concrete wall underneath the railroad tracks, along the parking lot at Broadway and Liberty, the remnants of some old painted signs were tucked under a tangle of vines, and the only bit that could be made out was…