Districts of Albany in 1882

Its ravines unfilled, streams uncovered, and hills unflattened, Albany in 1882 was still hugely defined by its topography. Most neighborhoods remained isolated from one another, each…

Place Names of Albany & Rensselaer Counties, 1914

The State Board of Geographic Names was established in 1913 as an attempt to standardize and codify the names of cities, towns, village, rivers, creeks in…

The Awakening – Albany’s first movie (a.k.a. “Move Over, Ironweed”)

In 1914, the fledgling movie “industry” wasn’t so much an industry as it was a motley bunch of entrepreneurs, visionaries, and scammers. What was clear, however,…

The Albany Turn Verein

In my online explorations, I came across an organization of which I’d never heard: The Albany Social Turn-Verein. TV IMAGE The turnverein was a German society…

A photo tour of industrial buildings, upper Broadway

I’ve always been fascinated with this little strip of industrial structures, mostly built, I believe in the early 1920’s, replacing residential buildings. They were primarily created…

When the Antarctic Snow Cruiser Almost Visited Albany

In the decade of the Great Depression, Americans wanted desperately to believe that science and invention would bring us a gee-whiz, Buck Rogers world. Feeding this…

Jed’s Historical Fragments #253: Court minutes of Old Albany, 1683.

I’ll go a little easier on you, that last entry was a reading challenge! This appeared in The Argus, January 29, 1905. January 2, 1683. Wynant…

Jed’s Historical Fragments #282: Albany attempts to shore up its defenses following the Schenectady Massacre of 1690.

(This account – reproduced in the Argus of August 27, 1905, is from historical records circa 1690 and include many unfamiliar spellings, abbreviations, and random capitalizations.…

What Was There: 24 Quail Street

This forlorn structure on the southeast corner of Quail and Third Streets has an unremarkable yet diverse history. Built in 1880, 24 Quail Street was a…

Homestead Park: A Postwar Development

Upper Western Avenue, near the city limits, was pretty much undeveloped hinterland into the early part of the 20th century. In 1940, an entrepreneur named William…