ARCHITECTURE OF ALBANY

Architecture of Albany

Architecture of Albany

Introduction

Albany is the capital and a major port and trading center for New York State. State government buildings dominate the city's skyline and governmental activities dominate the economy. One of the oldest cities in the country, Albany displays its Dutch heritage in the architecture of some of its buildings and in the narrow streets that date from colonial times. Today Albany is a thriving cultural center supporting a variety of museums, theaters, and historic buildings. In 2005 Forbes magazine named Albany number 34 among the nation's "Best Places for Business."

History as the Location of Important Events

The first known buildings in what is now the City of Albany were constructed at Fort Nassau in 1614. At Fort Orange traders associated with the Dutch West India Co, like other early American immigrants, followed building traditions of their homeland. By 1664, when the English took New Netherland and Beverwijck was renamed Albany, more than 100 houses had been constructed, typically having brick facades and gables facing the street, much like contemporary urban houses in the Netherlands. Today, only drawings, a few photographs, and archaeological traces of these 17th-century structures survive; the most visible legacy of early Albany is the irregular street pattern in the area east of Pearl St between Hudson Ave and Orange St. (Mark, 1999)

The early 18th century was more peaceful, and there was significant construction within the Albany stockade. The Dutch Reformed congregation enlarged a stone church at the foot of State St in 1714-15 (not extant). A three-story stone courthouse, erected on Broadway in 1740, later welcomed the Albany Congress of 1754 and served as the first state capitol (1797-1807, not extant). Two dwellings, constructed in the Dutch tradition, survive from the mid 18th century: the Quackenbush House (ca 1736), now a restaurant, and the Johannes Radliff House (ca 1759). Once the British conquered Canada and attacks by the French and Indians ceased, outlying farms were resettled and elegant country seats appeared. Schuyler Mansion (1761-64) was embellished with wallpaper and hardware sent from London and is now a state hstoric site. The great Van Rensselaer Manor House (1765) was demolished in 1893, but a room is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A generation later Philip Van Rensselaer built the two stories, gambrel-roofed residence (1787) still known as Cherry Hill, now a museum. (Diana, 1993)

New York's first state capitol built for that purpose was completed in 1809 to the designs of Albany architect Philip Hooker. With its Ionic portico overlooking a public square, the new capitol firmly established State St hill as the center of state government. Hooker's capitol and the nearby city hall (1829-32) were destroyed in the early 1880s, but two other important downtown buildings that he designed survive: the twin-towered Dutch Reformed Church (1797-99; now First Church) and the former Albany Academy (1814-17; now Albany City School District administrative offices), its red sandstone facades enriched with fluted pilasters. (Mark, 1999)

It took three decades and four architects--Thomas Fuller (1867-76), Leopold ...