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Tragedies on the Trolleys
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The Albany and Hudson Railway, which provided trolley service from Hudson to Rensselaer and into Albany, only lasted under that name from 1899 to 1903. In addition to running the trolleys, the company ran a resort called “Electric Park” at Kinderhook Lake. A round-trip ticket from Albany to Electric Park cost forty cents. Extra…
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The Albany & Hudson & Kinderhook & Greenbush Railway Gas Electric Bridge Company
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Remember when street railways also owned hydropower dams and provided electricity and gas service? Yeah, we never heard of that before, either. But turns out it happened, at least with one local streetcar company. To get to the formation of the Albany and Hudson Railway and Power Company, which was incorporated in 1899 under…
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Tolls Across the Hudson
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For the longest time, it’s been said that the Dunn Memorial Bridge is the southernmost toll-free crossing of the Hudson River (which is saying something, being that it’s 145 miles from Albany to the Battery). But that wasn’t always the case. Its predecessor, the Greenbush Bridge, was constructed as a private project in 1882…
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And he shall be deemed the ferry-man
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We’ve been talking lately about the bridges, but they weren’t always there. A city by the river, in the days before bridges, very much relied on ferries for transportation. From the earliest days, Greenbush was an important adjunct to what became Albany, and the vast farmlands beyond Greenbush relied on ferries to access the…
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The Albany-Greenbush Tunnel
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Yesterday, in talking about plans to replace the old Greenbush Bridge, we noted the somewhat odd comments of Holland Tunnel designer Fred Williams, who had come to Albany to talk about how you should always think about a tunnel, but lamented that “This isn’t tunnel day.” Well, that wasn’t as random as it sounded…
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Time for a new bridge to Greenbush – or maybe not.
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Is anything ever simple around here? No, it is not. So, while it took years to get agreement to build the first bridge between Albany and Greenbush, the only bridge that carried automobiles across the river below Troy, you would think that when it came time to replace it, it would be relatively simple.…
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From Hearses to Ambulances: Albany Motor Renting Corp.
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In case you were wondering when funerals by automobile became possible in the “Capitol” District – it would appear that the answer is 1920, which is when the Albany Motor Renting Corporation was formed (president: Spero Loscaris) and this ad appeared in the Albany City Directory. Its 56 South Ferry Street location, where they…
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Geology is Destiny
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Our views of history are, to be certain, shaped by our perspectives. Whatever background we come from, whatever origin stories we tell about ourselves and our families inform our understanding of the events the past. And to an extent, even our training and careers can inform what we learn, and create interesting perspectives to…
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A Home for the Faculty Cows
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Again, the Encyclopedia of Union College History provides a view of a time unimaginably long gone: when cows grazed on the campus pasture. Before the current West College was built in 1953, the campus was open to the west, and the lands west of the wall were called the Pasture. Professors long had the…
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The Union College Burial Ground
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So here’s an interesting side note that we uncovered while digging through the highly useful Encyclopedia of Union College, dated 2003 and apparently written by Wayne Somers. Apparently, if you’re a faculty member at Union College, you’re entitled to a free burial plot in the College cemetery in Vale Cemetery. “About half way between…