Author: Carl Johnson

For the 37th Bicentennial tablet, it’s rather remarkable that it still exists – given that much of the street it commemorates was annihilated for the construction of the Empire State Plaza. Tablet No. 37—Eagle Street. Bronze tablet, 7×16 inches, on corner building State and Eagle streets. Inscription:“Eagle Street, formerly Duke Street.” In Albany’s earliest…

Here we are at number 36 in our series of tablets placed in honor of Albany’s charter bicentennial in 1886. Tablet No. 36—James Street. Bronze tablet, 7×16 inches, on Mechanics and Farmers’ Bank. Inscription“James Street, formerly Middle Lane.” Similar to Dean Street, we’re a little mystified as to why the Albany Bicentennial Committee chose…

The 35th tablet placed in honor of the bicentennial of Albany’s charter, in 1886, was another of the handful that simply commemorated a street: State Street. Unfortunately, this is another tablet that is long gone, but then again – we kinda know about State Street, tablet or not. Tablet No. 35—State StreetBronze tablet, 7×16…

The 34th in our series of Albany Bicentennial tablets is a bit of a mystery – and perhaps it was never installed at all. And if you’ve lived in Albany all your life and have still never heard of Dean Street, you’re probably not alone. It was never more than a stub – today you’d…

As we said last time, with these last several tablets commemorating Albany’s 1886 bicentennial, we’re down to honoring streets instead of people. This one was for Hamilton Street: Tablet No. 33—Hamilton Street.Bronze tablet, 7×16 inches, corner building at Hamilton and Pearl streets. Inscription: “Hamilton Street formerly Kilbey Lane.” We have some bad news about…

The last several tablets placed by the Albany Bi-centennial Committee in 1886 were simple commemorations of several streets – and not always major ones. Some still exist, but this one has disappeared. Tablet No. 32—Washington AvenueBronze tablet, 7×16 inches, placed on corner of Capitol building. Inscription: “Washington Avenue, formerly King, then Lion Street.” The…

The Albany Bicentennial Committee chose to honor Academy Park with a bicentennial plaque – interesting in that it is the only one that celebrates a public space (not counting particular streets that were commemorated, which we’ll get to). Washington Park didn’t get such a mention, and Lincoln Park didn’t exist yet. But news accounts…

Another Albany bicentennial marker, and another one that long ago disappeared without a trace. So did whatever building it was originally installed on, probably another building after that, and, eventually, any evidence that any buildings had ever been there. Bronze tablet, 16×22 inches, placed in wall of building south-east corner of North Pearl and…

Today we have another Albany Bicentennial tablet that survived despite major construction at the area of its original placement more than a century ago. The Bicentennial Committee titled it “The South-East Gate,” but it covers much more than that: Bronze tablet, 11×23 inches, in a granite block, similar to No. 7, in the walk,…

Continuing our series on the tablets installed at important sites around the city of Albany in honor of the bicentennial of its charter, in 1886: Tablet No. 28 — North-West Gate.Bronze tablet, 9×13 inches, set in building occupied by Johnston & Reilly, North Pearl street. Inscription :“Here Stood the Northwest Gate of the city.…