For some time, Hannah Montague was forgotten, even as the industry she is now credited with creating boomed. Detachable collars (and then cuffs) proved all the rage, making laundering simpler, allowing shirts to last longer. In today’s world of cheap textiles, we don’t appreciate how few garments a denizen of the 19th century may…

We now believe that Mrs. Hannah Montague of 139 Third Street, Troy, invented the concept of the detachable collar in 1827, snipping the collar from one of her husband’s shirts in order to wash it separately from the shirtwaist, stitching it back in place when she was done. At the time “The Americana” reference…

Here is another view of Troy, taken from the photographic room windows (presumably within the main building of the short-lived Troy University, though perhaps in another building) by the Rev. Edwin Emerson, professor of English literature and avid amateur photographer. This is one shot of a stereograph (“lenses 9-1/2 feet apart) that Prof. Emerson…

It’s likely no one from Troy would recognize this as a picture of their fair city, but this picture shows a prominent feature of the landscape for more than 100 years. (The building, not the man.) The University Quarterly (1862) reported that “In the year 1852, an attempt was made to establish at Charlotteville,…

As I mentioned not too long ago, Troy did once have a magnificent City Hall. It was located at the corner of Third and State, where Barker Park is today, across from St. Paul’s and Pfeil’s Hardware. At the time I had only a drawing, but now have found a magnificent glass negative photograph…