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9 Miles to Merten’s & Phalen’s
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Not surprisingly, I don’t write Hoxsie to get rich. I do it because I love the history of our humble little cities that helped create this country. And I do it because by telling those stories, sometimes I really connect with others who love the past as much as I do. Ages ago I…
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Where the Telegraph Began
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“The Albany Hand-book” of 1884 included this lovely illustration of the still-lovely Albany Academy building, which dates to 1815. While reciting its long academic history, the author also noted that one of the most important developments in creating the modern world took place right in this building: “It was in the upper rooms of…
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Black society in Albany, 1884
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1884’s “Albany Hand-book” takes an encyclopedic approach to describing the city, listing topics such as “Academy of Music” or “Anti-Rentism,” and following them with a brief description. Here’s what the author, Henry P. Phelps, had to say on the topic of: African Race.–By the census of 1880, there were 1056 negroes in Albany. Many…
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Albany, Home of Bobsledding
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Just in time for the Olympics, this post was. Four years ago, on my other site. Last week, All Over Albany resurrected Albany’s bobsled fever. Apparently, even my own daughter didn’t know that bobsledding began right on Madison Avenue, so it’s time for a re-run: The folks at All Over Albany dug up an…
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When State Street was a crowded market
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The 1884 Albany Hand-book (“A Stranger’s Guide and Resident’s Manual”) provided this description of Albany’s most notable street: “State Street owes its great width to the fact that in the early history of the city most of the public buildings were in the middle of that street. It is a noble avenue, and when…
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The Mayor
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Now that Albany is burning through mayors (we’re now on our fourth since 1941!), Hoxsie thought we’d look back at Albany government the way it used to be done, with a description of the mayor’s job in 1884, a mere 130 years ago: “The Mayor’s bureau consists of the Mayor and two clerks. “The…
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The Living Skeleton
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The Albany Hand-book in 1884 contained an interesting entry on Calvin Edson, “the walking skeleton,” who “came to Albany in April, 1830, exhibited himself at the Museum, and gave levees at the Medical College. He was then forty-two years old, five feet two inches high, and weighed but sixty pounds. Subsequently he went upon…
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The mysterious Anneke Jans
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Since first posting this, I’ve written considerably more on Anneke Jans. The Albany Hand-book from 1884 saw fit to include an entry on one of the city’s most enigmatic early figures, Anneke Jans: “Anneke Jans, whose estate has been the subject of so much solicitation, resided cor. State and James Sts., present site of…
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On this day in 1885
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Not big on reporting what happened on this day in other years, but every now and then it’s fun. So this is what was reported in the Troy Local Budget (sometimes called the Northern Budget) on January 25, 1885, in the “Local Brevities” column. Ice for all. To-day’s length 9 h, 53 m. The…