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{{Short description|Neighborhood in Albany, New York}}
{{Infobox_nrhp | name =Lafayette Park Historic District
{{about|the neighborhood around the New York State Capitol in Albany|the park north of the White House in Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|other uses|Lafayette Park (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Lafayette Park Historic District
| nrhp_type = hd | nrhp_type = hd
| nocat = yes
| image = Elk Street Albany.jpg | image = Elk Street Albany.jpg
| alt = Three- and four-story brick buildings in various colors seen from across a street. A large tree is in the middle of the image. | alt = Three- and four-story brick buildings in various colors seen from across a street. A large tree is in the middle of the image.
| caption = Elk Street ]s, 2011 | caption = Elk Street ]s, 2011
| location= ], ] | location = ], ]
| coordinates = {{coord|42|39|11|N|73|45|24|W|display=inline,title}}
| lat_degrees = 42
| locmapin = New York#USA
| lat_minutes = 39
| mapframe = yes
| lat_seconds = 11
| mapframe-marker = building
| lat_direction = N
| mapframe-zoom = 12
| long_degrees = 73
| area = {{convert|36|acre|ha m2}}<ref name="nrhptext">{{cite web |last1=Brook|first1=C.E.|last2=Spencer-Ralph|first2=E.|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Lafayette Park Historic District |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316259|publisher=]|date=April 1975 |access-date=July 18, 2020}}</ref>
| long_minutes = 45
| long_seconds = 24 | architect =
| long_direction = W | architecture =
| locmapin = New York
| area ={{convert|36|acre}}<ref name="nrhptext">{{cite web|author=C. E. Brook and E. Spencer-Ralph |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Lafayette Park Historic District |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=472 |date=April, 1975|accessdate=2008-12-__}} and </ref>
| architect= Multiple
| architecture=
| added = November 15, 1978 | added = November 15, 1978
| refnum = 78001837<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
| governing_body = State of New York, Albany County, City of Albany and other private landowners.
| refnum=78001837<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}} }}
The '''Lafayette Park Historic District''' is located in central ], United States. It includes the park and the combination of large government buildings and small ]s on the neighboring streets. In 1978 it was recognized as a ] and listed on the ] (NRHP).<ref name=nris/> Many of its ] are themselves listed on the National Register. One of them, the ], is a ] as well. ] and the building housing ] government, along with ] and the ] of its ]. The ] also has ] within the district.


The '''Lafayette Park Historic District''' is located in central ], United States. It includes the park and the combination of large government buildings and small ]s on the neighboring streets. In 1978 it was recognized as a ] and listed on the ] (NRHP).<ref name=nris/> Many of its ] are themselves listed on the National Register. One of them, the ], is a ] as well. Other government buildings include ], the building housing ] government, ] and the ] of its ] along with ] of the ]. The ]'s ] is at one corner of the district.
While the state capitol building has always been located in the district, for most of the 19th century the neighborhood was best known for the ]s on Elk Street, one of the most desirable addresses in the city at that time. Many politicians, including some of ] and presidents ] and ], lived there at different times, and ] would recall the neighborhood from his childhood visits to his aunt as "vaguely portentous, like beasts of the forest not wholly exorcised." Two significant technological accomplishments—the development of the first working ] and the construction of the first ]ed ]—also took place within it. ], ] and ] are among the architects represented by buildings in the district.

While the state capitol building has always been located on its present site, for most of the 19th century the neighborhood was best known for the ]s on Elk Street, then one of the most desirable addresses in the city. Many politicians, including some of ] and presidents ]<ref name="nrhptext" /> and ],<ref name="Albany Architecture">{{cite book|last=Opalka|first=Anthony|title=Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City|year=1993|publisher=Mount Ida Press|location=Albany, NY|isbn=9780962536816|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_M7vlQPa8kC&pg=PA70|editor=Diana Waite|access-date=July 19, 2002}}</ref>{{rp|70–74}} lived there at different times. ] would recall the neighborhood from his childhood visits to his aunt as "vaguely portentous, like beasts of the forest not wholly exorcised."<ref name="nrhptext" /> Two significant technological accomplishments—the development of the first working ]<ref name="Smithsonian Henry page">{{cite web|last=Hochfelder|first=David|title=Joseph Henry: Inventor of the Telegraph?|url=http://siarchives.si.edu/oldsite/siarchives-old/history/jhp/joseph20.htm|publisher=]|date=1998–2007|access-date=October 26, 2020}}</ref> and the construction of the first ]ed ]<ref name="nrhptext" />{{rp|6, 10–11}}—also took place within it. ], ] and ] are among the architects with buildings in the district.


The park that gives the district its name was not actually built until the early 20th century, after larger government buildings had begun to dominate the area. In it and the other three parks are statues commemorating ] and Albany natives like ] general ] and electromagnet discoverer ]. ] and ] are among the sculptors represented. Although the district has been affected by modern trends—most of the Elk Street houses are now offices for various organizations that lobby the state government—it has remained mostly intact. It remains a vital part of Albany's public sphere, with the parks having hosted everything from benefit sales for soldiers' medical care during the Civil War to ]'s tent encampments and protests during the 2010s. The park that gives the district its name was not actually built until the early 20th century, after larger government buildings had begun to dominate the area. In it and the other three parks are statues commemorating ] and Albany natives like ] general ] and electromagnet discoverer ]. ] and ] are among the sculptors represented. Although the district has been affected by modern trends—most of the Elk Street houses are now offices for various organizations that lobby the state government—it has remained mostly intact. It remains a vital part of Albany's public sphere, with the parks having hosted everything from benefit sales for soldiers' medical care during the Civil War to ]'s tent encampments and protests during the 2010s.
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==Geography== ==Geography==


The {{convert|36|acre|adj=on}} district is rectangular, extending a block to the north and south of Washington Avenue (]), with an irregularly shaped projection at its northeast corner. From its southeast corner, at the intersection of State and Eagle streets, it runs west along State, between the ] and the ] office complex to the south. At South Swan Street, it turns north, with the ] and other ] of the adjacent ] on the west.<ref name=nrhptext /> The {{convert|36|acre|ha m2|adj=on}}<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|9}} district is rectangular, extending a block to the north and south of Washington Avenue (]), with an irregularly shaped projection at its northeast corner. From its southeast corner, at the intersection of State and Eagle streets, it runs west along State, between the ] and the ] office complex to the south. At South Swan Street, it turns north, with the ] and other ] of the adjacent ] on the west.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|13}}<ref name="Center-Square Hudson Park NRHP nom">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316189|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Center Square/Hudson-Park Historic District|year=1976|access-date=January 5, 2021|author=T. Robins Brown and E. Spencer-Ralph|publisher=]}}</ref>{{rp|13}}


It continues north two ], to the Elk Street intersection. Here it runs past ] and the back of the ] ] to the South Hawk Street intersection. The boundary turns north along the continuation of South Hawk and then turns east again to Columbia Street at the entrance to the top deck of a large ] in nearby ].<ref name=nrhptext /> It continues north two ], now bordering the ],<ref>{{cite web|title=Washington Avenue Corridor|url=https://www.historic-albany.org/advocacy/wachd|publisher=Historic Albany|access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref> to the Elk Street intersection. Here it runs past ] and the back of the ] ] to the South Hawk Street intersection. The boundary turns north along the continuation of South Hawk and then turns east again to Columbia Street at the entrance to the top deck of a large ] in nearby ].<ref>{{Google maps|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/42%C2%B039'11.0%22N+73%C2%B045'24.0%22W/@42.654496,-73.7551933,361m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d42.653056!4d-73.756667?hl=en|title=Sheridan Hollow Parking Garage|access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|13}}


At the Eagle Street junction, it turns north to the rear ] line of a building on that side of the street, then along its east line to the rear lines of the rowhouses along Columbia Street all the way to Chapel Street. It follows that street south back to Columbia, and turns east again all the way to Lodge Street, again sharing a boundary, this time with the ].<ref name=nrhptext /> At the Eagle Street junction, it turns north to the rear ] line of a building on that side of the street, then along its east line to the rear lines of the rowhouses along Columbia Street all the way to Chapel Street. It follows that street south back to Columbia, and turns east again all the way to Lodge Street, again sharing a boundary, this time with the ].<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|13}}<ref name="Downtown Albany HD NRHP nom">{{cite web |author=John F. Harwood and Austin O'Brien |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Downtown Albany Historic District |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316217 |date=September 7, 1979 |access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|33–35}}
] ]
Just before reaching ], at Steuben Street, the line turns west again, then south, between the ] building and the parking lot behind it. Crossing Pine Street it jogs slightly westward, then turns south and west to Eagle Street, around the back of ]. From there it turns south in the middle of Eagle Street and returns to the southeast corner.<ref name=nrhptext /> Just before reaching ], at Steuben Street, the line turns west again, then south, between the ] and the parking lot behind it. Crossing Pine Street it jogs slightly westward, then turns south and west to Eagle Street, around the back of ]. From there it turns south in the middle of Eagle Street and returns to the southeast corner.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|13}}


The terrain slopes gently toward the east, reflecting the nearby ]. In the eastern portion of the district this becomes slightly steeper. The dropoff into Sheridan Hollow, on the north, is abrupt.<ref name="USGS map">{{cite map |publisher=] |title=Albany Quadrangle – New York – Albany, Rensselaer Cos.|url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=42.653056&lon=-73.756667&datum=nad83&zoom=4 |scale=1:24,000 |series=USGS 7½-minute series|isbn=|accessdate=May 1, 2013 |archiveurl= |archivedate=}}</ref> The terrain slopes gently eastward, toward the nearby ], becoming slightly steeper in the eastern portion of the district. On the north it drops off more abruptly into Sheridan Hollow.<ref name="USGS map">{{cite map |publisher=] |title=Albany Quadrangle – New York – Albany, Rensselaer Cos.|url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=42.653056&lon=-73.756667&datum=nad83&zoom=4 |scale=1:24,000 |series=USGS 7½-minute series|access-date=May 1, 2013 }}</ref>


Much of the southern portion of the district is ]. East and West Capitol parks flank that building. To its northeast, on the block between Elk, Eagle, Hawk and Washington, is one large park that is actually two: Lafayette Park, owned by the state, on the west and county-owned Academy Park on the east. In between them on the north side is the former ] building, now the main offices of the ].<ref name=nrhptext /> Much of the southern portion of the district is ]. East and West Capitol parks flank that building. To its northeast, on the block between Elk, Eagle, Hawk and Washington, is one large park<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|13}} that is actually two: Lafayette Park, owned by the state, on the west and city-owned Academy Park on the east.<ref name="Occupy Albany in park">{{cite news|last=Fitzgerald|first=Bryan|title=Occupy gets OK to stay for now|url=https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Occupy-gets-OK-to-stay-for-now-2370326.php|newspaper=]|date=January 5, 2021}}</ref> In between them on the north side is the former ] building, now the main offices of the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Contact Us|url=https://www.albanyschools.org/about/contact|publisher=]|access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref>


The large government buildings around the park were, like the state capitol, built in the late 19th century. Their ]s vary from the capitol's mix of ] and ] to the ] stylings of the Court of Appeals and Education Department building. The cathedral adds some ] to the mix. The residential areas in the north primarily have two-story brick townhouses dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are 35 buildings in the district; all but three are ]<ref name=nrhptext /> The large government buildings around the park were, like the state capitol, built in the late 19th century. Their ]s vary from the capitol's mix of ] and ] ]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315631|title=New York State Capitol|access-date=January 10, 2021|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=]|df=mdy-all|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218065503/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315631|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|2}} to the ] stylings of the Court of Appeals<ref>{{cite web|last=Liebs|first=Chester|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, New York State Court of Appeals Building|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316287|publisher=]|date=September 1970|access-date=January 10, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|3}} and Education Department building.<ref>{{cite web |last=Liebs |first=Chester H. |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: New York State Department of Education Building |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316289 |date=July 1970 |access-date=January 10, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|3}} The cathedral adds some ] to the mix.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Petito Jr.|first1=Robert A.|last2=Waite|first2=John G.|title=Architectural History|url=http://www.thecathedralofallsaints.org/files/2913/5176/7966/CAS_Architectural_History.pdf|publisher=Cathedral of All Saints|date=November 14, 2003|access-date=January 10, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121115042333/http://www.thecathedralofallsaints.org/files/2913/5176/7966/CAS_Architectural_History.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2012}}</ref> The residential areas in the north primarily have two-story brick townhouses dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are 35 buildings in the district; all but three are ]<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|2}}


==History== ==History==


The district has an early period corresponding roughly to the 19th century, in which it was primarily noted for the residences of socially prominent residents and politicians, and incidentally as the locale of the capitol. After the completion of the ] at century's end, it began to be dominated by large government buildings, with the ], including the park that gives the district its name, coming into place in the early decades of the new century. The district has an early period corresponding roughly to the 19th century, in which it was noted for the residences of socially prominent residents and politicians. After the completion of the ] at century's end, it began to be dominated by large government buildings, with the ], including the park that gives the district its name, coming into place in the early decades of the new century.<ref name="nrhptext" />{{rp|8}}


===1809–1899: Elk Street and residences=== ===1809–1899: Elk Street and residences===
] ]
The neighborhood has been home to the centers of power since it was established. In 1809, 12 years after Albany was permanently designated New York's state capital at the end of the 18th century the first state capitol building in the city was erected on a site adjacent to the location of the current building, in order to leave space for commercial development around the waterfront along the ]. The city government used it as well for meetings and office space. The oldest extant building in the district, the first ] building, designed by ], was built in 1815.<ref name=nrhptext /> The neighborhood has been home to the centers of power since it was established. In 1809, 12 years after Albany was permanently designated New York's state capital at the end of the 18th century,<ref>{{cite web|title=City of Albany history|url=https://www.albanyny.gov/775/City-of-Albany-History|publisher=City of Albany|access-date=February 2, 2021}}</ref> the first state capitol building in the city was erected on a site adjacent to the location of the current building.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Capitol|url=https://www.albany.edu/museum/wwwmuseum/statestreet/thecapitol.html|publisher=]|access-date=February 2, 2021|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309045822/https://www.albany.edu/museum/wwwmuseum/statestreet/thecapitol.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The city government used the building as well for meetings and office space. ]'s original ] building, the oldest extant building in the district, was built 1815–17.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|11}}


It was in the academy building that, a dozen years later, one of the school's professors, ], conducted experiments with electricity that proved the existence of ] and created the first functional ]. For several years in the early 1830s he demonstrated the practical effects of this discovery to his classes by using a magnet to ring a bell at the end of a wire run around the room. Not only was this the prototype for the electric doorbell, it has been considered an important step on the road to the invention of the ] two decades later.<ref name="Smithsonian Henry page">{{cite web|last=Hochfelder|first=David|title=Joseph Henry: Inventor of the Telegraph?|url=http://www.siarchives.si.edu/history/jhp/joseph20.htm|publisher=]|date=1998–2007|accessdate=May 5, 2013}}</ref> In the academy building, a dozen years later, one of the school's professors, ], conducted experiments with electricity that proved the existence of ] and created the first functional ]. For several years in the early 1830s he demonstrated the practical effects of this discovery to his classes by using a magnet to ring a bell at the end of a wire run around the room. Not only was this the prototype for the electric doorbell, it has been considered an important step on the road to the invention of the ] two decades later.<ref name="Smithsonian Henry page" />


In 1832, the city decided it was time for its government to have its own building, and Hooker provided a domed marble ] building on the present site, which had already been designated for future development as a public square. The next year, the two acres ({{convert|2|acre|m2|disp=output only}}) on the east of the Academy building were formally laid out as Academy Park. It was encircled by an iron fence similar to that which Hooker had designed for nearby Capitol Park.<ref name="Albany Architecture">{{cite book|last=Opalka|first=Anthony|title=Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City|year=1993|publisher=Mount Ida Press|location=Albany, NY|isbn=9780962536816|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=B_M7vlQPa8kC&pg=PA70|editor=Diana Waite|accessdate=May 5, 2013|pages=70–74}}</ref> In 1832, the city government decided it needed its own city hall, and Hooker provided a domed marble ] building on the present site, which had already been designated for future development as a public square. The next year, the two acres ({{convert|2|acre|m2|disp=output only}}) on the east of the Academy building were formally laid out as Academy Park. It was encircled by an iron fence similar to that which Hooker had designed for nearby Capitol Park.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> Elk and Columbia streets were the center of development, primarily residential, in the district during this era. On the former, the houses closest to the park, Nos. 2 through 7, were built between 1827 and 1833, among them some considered Albany's finest ] houses. Columbia Street, where Henry made his home at 107, was developed more modestly.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}


Because of its proximity to the capitol, Elk Street was often a preferred residence of ] during this era, since New York did not erect ] until later in the 19th century. ] lived at 2 Elk Street during his first term, and ] made 21 Elk his home after he was elected in 1848. ], a congressman and later ], lived at 25 Elk Street and may have owned 1 Elk Street (since demolished). Three governors—], ] and ]—rented the building from him during their tenure in office.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|8}}
Elk and Columbia streets were the center of development in the district during this era. On the former, the houses closest to the park, 2 through 7, were built between 1827 and 1833, among them some of Albany's finest ] houses. Columbia Street, where Henry made his home at number 107, was developed with more modest houses.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78">''Albany Architecture'', .</ref>


], a ] and ] before he became ], owned 4 Elk Street and lived there for some of the time he was not serving in the latter post. While he was, it was occupied by his son Smith Thompson and his wife, Ellen King James. Among the visitors who came to the house in the later years was Ellen's young nephew ]. Later in his life, when he had become an accomplished novelist, he wrote that Elk Street had always seemed to him "vaguely portentous, as though beasts of the forests not fully exorcised."<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|8}}
Because of its proximity to the capitol, Elk Street was often a preferred residence of ] during this area, since New York did not establish ] until later in the 19th century. ] lived at 2 Elk Street during his first term, and ] made 21 Elk his home after he was elected in 1848. ], a congressman and later ], lived at 25 Elk Street and may have owned 1 Elk Street (now demolished). Three governors—], ] and ]—rented the building from him during their tenure in office.<ref name=nrhptext />

], a ] and ] before he became President, owned 4 Elk Street and lived there for some of the time he was not serving in the latter post. While he was, it was occupied by his son Smith Thompson and his wife, Ellen King James. Among the visitors who came to the house in the later years was Ellen's young nephew ]. Later in his life, when he had become an accomplished novelist, he wrote that Elk Street had always seemed to him "vaguely portentous, as though beasts of the forests not fully exorcised."<ref name=nrhptext />
] ]
The first of the large buildings, mostly governmental edifices, that dominate the district in our time, the building now housing the ], the state's highest court, was completed in 1842 after eight years of construction. Originally "State Hall", housing a number of other state offices in addition to the court, Henry Rector's ] structure used all three ] in its design. It was considered one of the finest government buildings of its era.<ref name="Court of Appeals building NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Liebs|first=Chester|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, New York State Court of Appeals Building|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=353|publisher=]|date=July 1970|accessdate=May 5, 2013}}</ref> Three years later, 17 Elk Street, the grandest house yet built on that street, was built for ], an industrialist who later served in the state Senate and U.S. House. It was expanded to the east in 1858.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" /> The first of the large buildings, mostly governmental edifices, that dominate the district today, the ], was designed in 1835 and opened in 1842.<ref>{{cite web|title=Court of Appeals Hall: Construction, Renovation & Renovation|url=https://history.nycourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Courthouse_COA-Construction-Restoration-Renovation-1.pdf|publisher=Historical Society of the Courts of New York|access-date=February 18, 2021}}</ref> Originally "State Hall", housing a number of other state offices before the court moved in following its 1847 creation, Henry Rector's ] structure used all three ] in its design. It was considered one of the finest government buildings of its era.<ref name="Court of Appeals building NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Liebs|first=Chester|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, New York State Court of Appeals Building|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316287|page=3|publisher=]|date=July 1970|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref> Four years later, 17 Elk Street, the grandest house yet built on that street, was sold to ], an industrialist who later served in the state senate and U.S. House. It was expanded to the east in 1858.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}


After the ], during which a temporary structure was set up in Academy Park as the Army Relief Bazaar to raise money for medical supplies, this change accelerated further with the beginning of construction on ]. ], an architect who worked in the city through the 1930s, was born at 98 Columbia Street in 1869 and lived there both as a child and an old man. In 1880, Hooker's 1832 City Hall burned down. ], then in Albany working on the state capitol, designed ] to replace it, and it was soon completed, in part because the budget and ]s did not allow for an interior to match Richardson's ornate ] exterior.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> After the ], during which a temporary structure was set up in Academy Park as the Army Relief Bazaar to raise money for medical supplies, this change accelerated further with the beginning of construction of ]. ], an architect who worked in the city through the 1930s, was born at 98 Columbia Street in 1869 and lived there both as a child and an old man. In 1880, Hooker's 1832 City Hall burned down. ], then in Albany working on the state capitol, designed ] to replace it, and it was soon completed, in part because the budget and ]s did not allow for an interior to match Richardson's ornate ] exterior.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}


In the decade after the war, Elk Street continued to be a residential neighborhood. Reflecting the ] that was ongoing at the time, most of those who made their homes there were not politicians but some of the city's newly wealthy industrialists.<ref name=nrhptext /> The park was neglected during this time—Huybertie Pruyn, who lived in the area as a child during the 1870s and '80s, recalls it as a "wretchedly kept place". It had only one light in the center, was locked at 10 p.m. every night, and even so children were warned not to go into it after dark.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> In the decade after the war, Elk Street continued to be a residential neighborhood. Reflecting the ], most of those who made their homes there were not politicians but some of the city's newly wealthy industrialists.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|10}} The park was neglected during this time—Huybertie Pruyn, who lived in the area as a child during the 1870s and '80s, recalls it as a "wretchedly kept place". It had only one light in the center, was locked at 10 p.m. every night, and even so children were warned not to go into it after dark.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}


The Rev. ] had been appointed bishop of the ] in 1867. He lived at 29 Elk Street, and presided over the construction of ], completed in 1888. The young architect ] won the commission over Richardson with his ] design. Doane's original plan was for the block on which the cathedral was located to be an entire campus with a school, hospital and convent, a "]" for the diocese, similar to some Anglican cathedrals in England. However, he was unable to persuade the church's trustees to expend the additional money, a failure that became significant later.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Brooke|first=Cornelia|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, Cathedral of All Saints, Albany|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=459|publisher=]|date=November 1973|accessdate=May 5, 2013}}</ref> The Rev. ] had been appointed bishop of the ] in 1867. He lived at 29 Elk Street, and presided over the construction of ], completed in 1888. The young architect ] won the commission over Richardson with his ] design. Doane's original plan was for the block on which the cathedral was located to be an entire campus with a school, hospital and convent, a "]" for the diocese, similar to some Anglican cathedrals in England. He was unable to persuade the church's trustees to spend the additional money, which would have an effect on the building later.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Brooke|first=Cornelia|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, Cathedral of All Saints, Albany|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316185|publisher=]|date=November 1973|access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|7–8}}


The same year, a thousand-foot (300 m) bridge was built extending Hawk Street to connect the neighborhoods north of Sheridan Hollow, now home to many of the workers in the ] city, with the Lafayette Park area. Since dismantled, it is believed to have been the first ]ed ] in the world, designed by former state engineer ]. A segment of the iron railing and its south ] remain, as contributing properties.<ref name=nrhptext /> The same year, the thousand-foot (300 m) ] was built, connecting the neighborhoods north of Sheridan Hollow, now home to many of the workers in the ] city, with the Lafayette Park area. Since dismantled, it is believed to have been the first ]ed ] in the world, designed by former state engineer ]. A segment of the iron railing and its south ] remain, as contributing properties.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|6, 10–11}}


Elk Street remained an address known for its high style. In 1897, newly elected ] ], who would serve three governors in that position, moved into 5 Elk Street. Albany society took immediate notice of his penchant for the latest clothing, his fine horses, and his English ], who had most recently worked for ].<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" /> Elk Street remained an address known for its high style. In 1897, newly elected ] ], who would serve three governors in that position, moved into 5 Elk Street. Albany society took immediate notice of his penchant for the latest clothing, his fine horses, and his English ], who had most recently worked for ], ]'s mistress.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}


In 1899, the new state capitol was finally finished. With government so firmly established in the area, some of the old houses nearby began to be ] into office space for institutions that desired the proximity to the state's elected officials, or subdivided into smaller living spaces. A fire insurers' organization converted 1–2 Columbia Place, including one of the buildings that had served as sculptor ]'s studio in the middle of the century,<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> into its offices. Similarly, 105–107 Columbia Street became an apartment building.<ref name=nrhptext /> In 1899, the new state capitol was finally finished. With government so firmly established in the area, some of the old houses nearby began to be ] into office space for institutions that desired the proximity to the state's elected officials, or subdivided into smaller living spaces. A fire insurers' organization converted 1–2 Columbia Place, including one of the buildings that had served as sculptor ]'s studio in the middle of the century,<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}} into its offices. Similarly, 105–107 Columbia Street became an apartment building.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|11}}


===1900–present: New Capitol, government buildings and parks=== ===1900–present: New Capitol, government buildings and parks===
] ]
The early 20th century significantly transformed the district. First, two more large government buildings were added. In 1906 ], first commissioner of the state's ] (SED), wanted to move his agency into space of its own near the capitol along with the ] and ]. He considered the block on which Cathedral of All Saints stood to be the ideal location; however, the cathedral still owned some of the land and his approaches to the Doane, who had not abandoned his mother church plan, led to animosity between the two. While the bishop was traveling overseas, Draper used his political influence to have the state buy all the remaining land on the block.<ref name="Albany Architecture 79">''Albany Architecture'', .</ref> Doane, forced to abandon his longtime plan, succeeded in getting the legislature to limit ] to two stories, but Draper ] by making sure that those two stories, on ]'s ]d marble ] structure were as tall as possible, blocking the cathedral off from the rest of the city.<ref name="CAS Architectural history">Petito Jr., Robert A. and Waite, John G.; {{PDFlink||}}; Cathedral of All Saints; November 14, 2003, p. 8. Retrieved May 8, 2013.</ref> The early 20th century significantly transformed the district. First, two more large government buildings were added. In 1906 ], first commissioner of the state's ] (SED), wanted to move his agency into space of its own near the capitol along with the ] and ]. He considered the block on which Cathedral of All Saints stood to be the ideal location; however, the cathedral still owned some of the land and his approaches to the Doane, who had not abandoned his mother church plan, led to animosity between the two. While the bishop was traveling overseas, Draper used his political influence to have the state buy all the remaining land on the block.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|79}} Doane, forced to abandon his longtime plan, succeeded in getting the legislature to limit ] to two stories, but Draper ] by making sure that those two stories, on ]'s ]d marble ] structure were as tall as possible, blocking the cathedral off from the rest of the city.<ref name="CAS Architectural history">{{cite web|last1=Petito Jr.|first1=Robert A.|last2=Waite|first2=John G.|title=Architectural History|url=http://www.thecathedralofallsaints.org/files/2913/5176/7966/CAS_Architectural_History.pdf|publisher=Cathedral of All Saints|date=November 14, 2003|access-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121115042333/http://www.thecathedralofallsaints.org/files/2913/5176/7966/CAS_Architectural_History.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2012}}</ref>{{rp|8}}


While it was being built, the district would be home for two years to another resident later to become prominent, future president ]. He lived in 4 Elk Street from 1910 to 1912 while serving as a state senator.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> Other houses nearby, and on Columbia, were being renovated, usually by ].<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" /> In 1912, the Education Department building opened, along with ]'s new courthouse and office building next to the Court of Appeals.<ref name=nrhptext /> While it was being built, the district would be home for two years to another resident later to become prominent, future president ]. He lived in 4 Elk Street from 1910 to 1912 while serving as a state senator.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|76}} Other houses nearby, and on Columbia, were being renovated, usually by ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}} In 1912, the Education Department building was completed, followed four years later by ]'s new courthouse and office building next to the Court of Appeals.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|11}}


During the time the district was preparing to receive its distinguishing feature. Starting in 1908, the block between Academy Park and Hawk Street was cleared to create Lafayette Park, named for the ], who had stayed in Albany during 1778 and visited the city in the 1820s.<ref name="Federal Writers' Project guide">{{cite book|title=New York State: A Guide to the Empire State|year=1940|publisher=North American Book Dist LLC|isbn=9780403021512|page=191|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6BlDLkhKGLoC&pg=PA191|author=]|accessdate=May 9, 2013}}</ref> In the process more than 30 houses were demolished, including those of Palmer and writer ].<ref name=nrhptext /> With the space opening up, more public statuary was erected. ] arranged for ]'s memorial sculpture to ] General ], an Albany native, to be posthumously placed on a ] east of the capitol designed by ] architect ].<ref name="Albany Architecture 68">''Albany Architecture'', .</ref> In 1925, a ] statue of another Albany military man, ] General ], went up in front of City Hall. It was followed two years later by one of ], sculpted by ], in front of the Albany Academy.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> During the time the district was preparing to receive its distinguishing feature. Starting in 1908, the block between Academy Park and Hawk Street was cleared to create Lafayette Park, named for the ], who had stayed in Albany during 1778 and visited the city in the 1820s.<ref name="Federal Writers' Project guide">{{cite book|title=New York State: A Guide to the Empire State|year=1940|publisher=]|page=191|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008915889&view=1up&seq=247|author=Federal Writers' Project|access-date=June 22, 2021|author-link=Federal Writers' Project|via=]}}</ref> In the process more than 30 houses were demolished, including those of Palmer and writer ].<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|11}} With the space opening up, more public statuary was erected. ] arranged for ]'s memorial sculpture to ] General ], an Albany native, to be posthumously placed on a ] east of the capitol designed by ] architect ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|68}} In 1925, a ] statue of another Albany military man, ] General ], went up in front of City Hall. It was followed two years later by one of ], sculpted by ], in front of the Albany Academy.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|71–73}}
] ]
West Capitol Park was expanded threefold from a modest plan submitted by the sons of ] in 1898. In keeping with the ideals of the contemporary ], it was reimagined as a "court of honor", surrounded by the Capitol, SED building and the newer ], towering over the older ones at the park's west side. Ideas by former ]s ] and ] were also incorporated. When it opened in 1930 it framed the capitol's west ] with a tree-lined entrance mall. A replica of ]'s ] of ] was installed in the park in 1932 to commemorate the first president's bicentennial.<ref name="Albany Architecture 80">''Albany Architecture'', .</ref> West Capitol Park was expanded threefold from a modest plan submitted by the sons of ] in 1898. In keeping with the ideals of the contemporary ], it was reimagined as a "court of honor", surrounded by the Capitol, SED building and the newer ], towering over the older ones at the park's west side. Ideas by former ]s ] and ] were also incorporated. When it opened in 1930 it framed the capitol's west ] with a tree-lined entrance mall. A replica of ]'s ] of ], displayed in the ] of the ], was installed in the park in 1932 to commemorate the first president's bicentennial.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|80}}


The changes in the neighborhood were reflected in its building use. In 1930, the academy moved out of the building it had outgrown; it was bought by the city and eventually became the offices of the ]. Reynolds, in one of his final projects, supervised the renovation of the interior, a ] project funded by the ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> The Pruyns had moved out of 17 Elk Street around 1910; their house eventually became the state headquarters of the ]. They were followed by most of the other socially prominent families who had called Elk home. The house at 4, where the young ] had visited his aunt almost a century before, likewise became home to another ], the ].<ref name=nrhptext /> The changes in the neighborhood were reflected in its building use. In 1930, the academy moved out of the building it had outgrown; after the city bought it eventually became the offices of the ]. Reynolds, in one of his final projects, supervised the renovation of the interior, a ] project funded by the ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}} The Pruyns had moved out of 17 Elk Street around 1910;<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|10}} their house eventually became the state headquarters of the ]. They were followed by most of the other socially prominent families who had called Elk home. The house at 4, where the young ] had visited his aunt almost a century before, likewise became home to another ], the ].<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|11}}


Through the middle of the century the district remained stable, with no significant new buildings, demolitions or other changes. That began to change in the late 1960s as ] touched Albany, and the ] towers of ] rose to the south, dwarfing the older government buildings in the district. ] efforts grew. Daniel Barnard's old house at 1 Elk Street was demolished in 1969.<ref name=nrhptext /> At the corner of Elk and Eagle, activists were able to save the ]s of three townhouses which were otherwise to have been demolished for another modernist building, ]'s New York Law Center, which they serve to screen from the street.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" /> Through the middle of the century the district remained stable, with no significant new buildings, demolitions or other changes. That began to change in the late 1960s as ] touched Albany, and the ] towers of ] rose to the south, dwarfing the older government buildings in the district. ] efforts grew. Daniel Barnard's old house at 1 Elk Street was demolished in 1969.<ref name=nrhptext />{{rp|8}} At the corner of Elk and Eagle, activists were able to save the ]s of three townhouses which were otherwise to have been demolished for another modernist building, ]'s New York Law Center, which they serve to screen from the street.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}


The following year, 1970, the Hawk Street viaduct was dismantled so that a ] could be built in the space. Only its south ] and a portion of its handrail were left. As Empire State Plaza neared completion in the late 1970s, the ] and ] left the SED building for larger, dedicated space of their own built within the new complex.<ref name="Albany Architecture 80" /> The following year, 1970, the Hawk Street viaduct was dismantled. Only its south ] and a portion of its handrail were left. As Empire State Plaza neared completion in the late 1970s, the ] and ] left the SED building for larger, dedicated space of their own built within the new complex.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|80}}


In 1986, a memorial to ]'s dead and ] from the ] was commissioned for Lafayette Park. Sculptor Merlin Szosz produced a ] in the ] Greek mode, made of pink Brazilian granite and adorned with the names of those casualties, plus a relief of a soldier holding his fallen comrade amid ]n vegetation. It is set amid four gas lanterns shaped like ] and a circle of bronze benches. It was installed and dedicated in 1992.<ref name="Albany Architecture 78–79">''Albany Architecture'', .</ref> In 1986, a memorial to ]'s dead and ] from the ] was commissioned for Lafayette Park. Sculptor Merlin Szosz produced a ] in the ] Greek mode, made of pink Brazilian granite and adorned with the names of those casualties, plus a relief of a soldier holding his fallen comrade amid ]n vegetation. It is set amid four gas lanterns shaped like ] and a circle of bronze benches. It was installed and dedicated in 1992.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|78–79}}
] march along State Street|alt=A group of people marching along a city street ahead of the camera, carrying various signs and banners. On their right is a building with tall, smooth stone facades; on the left a more ornate stone stairway and streetlamp]] ] march along State Street|alt=A group of people marching along a city street ahead of the camera, carrying various signs and banners. On their right is a building with tall, smooth stone facades; on the left a more ornate stone stairway and streetlamp]]
Two decades later, the social turmoil that accompanied the Vietnam War on the home front echoed through the park anew. In October of 2011, protesters inspired by ] in Manhattan set up Occupy Albany, a tent encampment in the parks to call attention to rising ] during the ] as their fellow activists downstate had. The state originally instituted a ] of 11 p.m. for Lafayette Park in order to force them to leave, and police cited several of them for violating it. However, those plans were foiled when ], the county ], dropped the charges and city officials issued the group a permit to stay in Academy Park, which was under its jurisdiction and not the state's, in return for its cleanup efforts and limitations on its presence.<ref name="Occupy Albany in park">{{cite news|last=Fitzgerald|first=Bryan|title=Occupy gets OK to stay for now|newspaper=]|date=December 8, 2011|accessdate=May 10, 2013}}</ref> Occupy Albany stayed in the park for another 15 days before the city evicted it as winter came on.<ref name="Occupy Albany eviction">{{cite news|last=Banks|first=David|title=Our eviction from Academy Park|url=http://blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/our-eviction-from-academy-park/417/|newspaper=Times Union|date=December 23, 2011|accessdate=May 10, 2013}}</ref> The group continues to hold rallies and events in the parks.<ref name="Occuly Albany later events">{{cite news|author=Occupy Albany|title=Let Freedom Spring|url=http://blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/let-freedom-spring-occupy-albany-returns-to-lafayette-park/665/|newspaper=Times Union|date=April 30, 2012|accessdate=May 10, 2013}}</ref> Two decades later, the social turmoil that accompanied the Vietnam War on the home front echoed through the park anew. In October 2011, protesters inspired by ] in Manhattan set up Occupy Albany, a tent encampment in the parks, to call attention to rising ] during the ] as their fellow activists downstate had. The state originally instituted a ] of 11 p.m. for Lafayette Park in order to force them to leave, and police cited several of them for violating it. These plans failed when ], the county ], dropped the charges and city officials issued the group a permit to stay in Academy Park, which was under its jurisdiction and not the state's, in return for its cleanup efforts and limitations on its presence.<ref name="Occupy Albany in park" /> Occupy Albany stayed in the park for another 15 days before the city evicted it as winter came on.<ref name="Occupy Albany eviction">{{cite news|last=Banks|first=David|title=Our eviction from Academy Park|url=http://blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/our-eviction-from-academy-park/417/|newspaper=Times Union|date=December 23, 2011|access-date=May 10, 2013|archive-date=May 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504150943/http://blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/our-eviction-from-academy-park/417/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The group continues to hold rallies and events in the parks.<ref name="Occupy Albany later events">{{cite news|author=Occupy Albany|title=Let Freedom Spring|url=http://blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/let-freedom-spring-occupy-albany-returns-to-lafayette-park/665/|newspaper=Times Union|date=April 30, 2012|access-date=May 10, 2013|archive-date=September 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905055653/http://blog.timesunion.com/occupyalbany/let-freedom-spring-occupy-albany-returns-to-lafayette-park/665/|url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Significant contributing properties== ==Significant contributing properties==


Six buildings in the district are individually listed on the National Register in addition to being ] to the district. They include the cathedral and all government buildings save the county courthouse. One of those government buildings, the state capitol, is further designated a ]. There are still others that are noteworthy within the context of the district. Six buildings in the district are individually listed on the National Register in addition to being ] to the district. They include the cathedral and all government buildings save the county courthouse. One of those government buildings, the state capitol, is further designated a ]. There are still others that are noteworthy within the context of the district.<ref name="nrhptext" />{{rp|2–6}}


===National Historic Landmark=== ===National Historic Landmark===
] ]
*''']''', State Street. One of the last state capitol buildings in the nation to be located in an urban center when it was finished in 1899 after a 32-year construction period plagued by delays, it is also one of 11 that are not domed. Original architect ] had, in fact, designed a domed ] building, but he was forced off the project due to cost overruns in building the first three stories, and it was later left to various other architects, including ] to finish the {{convert|220|ft|adj=on}} structure in the ] mode, and as a result of this discontinuity it is often referred to as "a building at war with itself."<ref name="Albany Architecture 68" /> *], State Street: One of the last state capitol buildings in the nation to be located in an urban center when it was finished in 1899 after a 32-year construction period plagued by delays, it is also one of 11 that are not domed. Original architect ] had, in fact, designed a domed ] building, but he was forced off the project due to cost overruns in building the first three stories, and it was later left to various other architects, including ], to finish the {{convert|220|ft|adj=on}} structure in the ] mode, and as a result of this discontinuity it is often referred to as "a building at war with itself."<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|68}}


===National Register of Historic Places=== ===National Register of Historic Places===
] ]
*''']''', 24 Eagle Street. ] designed the fourth building to house Albany's government in 1880 when its 1832 predecessor was destroyed by fire. The granite building is considered one of his finest works, although he left the interior to later architects, including ]. In 1927 its {{convert|202|ft|adj=on}} tower was equipped with the first municipal ] in America.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> *], 24 Eagle Street: ] designed the fourth building to house Albany's government in 1880 when its 1832 predecessor was destroyed by fire. The granite building is considered one of his finest works, although he left the interior to later architects, including ]. In 1927 its {{convert|202|ft|adj=on}} tower was equipped with the first municipal ] in America.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*''']''', 62 South Swan Street. Richardson lost the contest to design this 1884 structure to the then relatively unknown ], who had actually followed the design specifications. The ] stone and brick structure was completed four years later. ], bishop of the ], had meant it to be the center of a "]" complex similar to those in some English diocesan seats, but the completion of the ] two decades later made those plans impossible. Even the cathedral itself remains incomplete, with two ] for higher rear spires in its rear.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom" /> *], 62 South Swan Street: Richardson lost the contest to design this 1884 structure to the then relatively unknown ], who had, unlike Richardson, followed the design specifications.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom" />{{rp|5–7}} The ] stone and brick structure was completed four years later. ], bishop of the ], had meant it to be the center of a "]" complex similar to those in some English diocesan seats,<ref name="CAS Architectural history" />{{rp|2}} but the completion of the ] two decades later made those plans impossible.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom" />{{rp|8}}<ref name="CAS Architectural history" />{{rp|8}} Even the cathedral itself remains incomplete, with two ] for higher rear spires in its rear.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom" />{{rp|2}}
*''']''', Academy Park. ]'s 1815 stone neoclassical design for the school is the oldest civic building in the city, and the less altered of his two remaining non-residential buildings. ] would later demonstrate the existence of ] in experiments there, and the building was named for him. It has been home to the ] since 1930.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> *], Academy Park: ]'s 1815 stone neoclassical design for the school is the oldest civic building in the city, and the less altered of his two remaining non-residential buildings. ] would later demonstrate the existence of ] in experiments there, and the building was named for him. It has been home to the ] since 1930.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*'''] Building''', 20 Eagle Street. Built originally in 1842 as State Hall, this late ] structure with thick ]s housed several other government offices in addition to ]. Its ] features all three ]s.<ref name="Court of Appeals building NRHP nom" /> *], 20 Eagle Street: Built originally in 1842 as State Hall, this late ] structure with thick ]s housed several other government offices in addition to ]. Its ] features all three ]s.<ref name="Court of Appeals building NRHP nom" />{{rp|3}}
*''']''', 89 Washington Avenue. This monumental 1906 ] stone building, with its ] running the length of the ], was the first building in America to house a state government's education agency.<ref name="NYSED building NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Liebs |first=Chester H. |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: New York State Department of Education Building|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=383|date=July, 1970 |accessdate=May 12, 2013}}</ref> Commissioner ] made sure the two stories Doane had persuaded the legislature to limit the building to were nevertheless high enough to obstruct the view of All Saints from the rest of the city.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom" /> Originally it also housed the ] and ] until they moved to separate quarters in the 1970s.<ref name="Albany Architecture" /> *], 89 Washington Avenue: This monumental 1912 ] stone building, with its ] running the length of the ], was the first building in America to house a state government's education agency.<ref name="NYSED building NRHP nom">{{cite web |last=Liebs |first=Chester H. |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: New York State Department of Education Building |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316289 |date=July 1970|publisher=]|access-date=July 11, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|3}} Commissioner ] made sure the two stories Doane had persuaded the legislature to limit the building to were nevertheless high enough to obstruct the view of All Saints from the rest of the city.<ref name="All Saints NRHP nom" />{{rp|8}} Originally it also housed the ] and ] until they moved to separate quarters in the 1970s.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}


===Others=== ===Others===
*83 and 85 Columbia Street: These two pre-] townhouses have unusual bowed ]s.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*98 Columbia Street: The residence of architect ] during his earliest and latest years. He grew up here, raised by his father and aunt after his mother died while he was very young. After his professional success, he bought the house and remodeled it.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*99 Columbia Street: Local cabinetmaker John Meads built what is probably another Hooker design in 1829. While its original concave entrance has been moved to the ], Meads' interior ] remain.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*107 Columbia Street: ] lived here while he was teaching and experimenting at the Albany Academy. His house was actually one of the two ] buildings that have since been combined.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*2 Elk Street: Several years after this 1827 townhouse was completed, Governor ] made it his official residence. It is believed to have been designed by Hooker, since it complements the Academy building across the street. Congressman ] lived there later in the 19th century.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*4 Elk Street: Built around the same time as its neighbor, this townhouse was owned by, and at times home to, ]; his son and daughter-in-law lived there after his presidency. It was visited by her nephew, the young ]; later it was the home of ] for one of his terms in the ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*6 Elk Street: When this red brick house was built in 1834, it was one of the largest on the street and one of Albany's best ] houses. William Patterson ], a descendant of one of colonial Albany's wealthiest and most prominent families, built it upon his marriage. Later it would serve as the ] for the cathedral.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*17 Elk Street: This ornate ] townhouse displaced 6 and 7 Elk as the grandest on the block when it was finished in 1845. Builder ] was a consolidator of the ] and later a state senator, U.S. Representative, regent of the ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*21 Elk Street: Orr and Cunningham, the builders of Pruyn's house, are considered to have surpassed it with this one, built in 1845 for ]. It is unlikely however that he lived there for any length of time since he was elected to the U.S. Senate by the legislature later that year in a special election. Pruyn lived there for a while instead, and ] made it his residence during his term as governor.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*25 Elk Street: ], an assemblyman, Congressman, and later ] lived here between the 1830s and 1850s. He also owned the now-demolished 1 Elk Street, which he rented to several other politicians, including three governors.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*29 Elk Street: A striking house of brick laid in ], with marble ] columns on the first floor topped by ] ones on the second, this was the residence of Episcopal bishop ] from his appointment in 1869 to his death four decades later. It continued to be the residence of subsequent bishops through the 1960s.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}
*Albany County Courthouse, 16 Eagle Street: The last of the large government buildings in the district to be erected, this 1910s ] and ] ] design was meant to be ] with the Court of Appeals building next door, featuring the same combination of Doric columns at the lower levels and Ionic columns above. Its intricate ornamentation extends to its bronze doors and ] exterior lamps with an ] ]. Inside it is centered around a two-story light court with marble Doric and Ionic columns and a ] ceiling of ].<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*] Abutment and Railing, North Hawk Street: These are all that remains of the Hawk Street Viaduct, believed to have been the first ]ed ] when it was built in 1888 to carry pedestrians over ] to and from the working-class neighborhoods north of downtown. It was dismantled in 1970.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|74–78}}


==Parks==
*'''2 Elk Street'''. Several years after this 1827 townhouse was completed, Governor ] made it his official residence. It is believed to have been designed by Hooker, since it complements the Academy building across the street. Congressman ] lived there later in the 19th century.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />
]
*'''4 Elk Street'''. Built around the same time as its neighbor, this townhouse was home to ], and his son and daughter-in-law after his presidency. It was visited by her nephew, the young ], and later the home of ] for one of his terms in the ].<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />
*Academy Park: The first park in the district was created in 1833 and named for the nearby school. In its two acres ({{convert|2|acre|m2|disp=output only}}) is a statute of ], commemorating his discovery of electromagnetism in the nearby building.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*'''6 Elk Street'''. When this red brick house was built in 1834, it was one of the largest on the street and one of Albany's best ] houses. William Patterson ], a descendant of one of colonial Albany's wealthiest and most prominent families, built it upon his marriage. Later it would serve as the ] for the cathedral.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />
*East Capitol Park: A statute of Civil War general ], who lived in Albany as a boy, stands between Eagle Street and the main steps of the state capitol building. ] lobbied to have it placed here after sculptor ]'s death.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|68}}
*'''17 Elk Street'''. This ornate ] townhouse displaced 6 and 7 Elk as the grandest on the block when it was finished in 1845. Builder ] was a consolidator of the ] and later a state senator, U.S. Representative, regent of the ].<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />
*Lafayette Park: The larger portion of land west of the Academy building was a developed block until the 1920s. The resulting park was named in honor of the ], who lived in the city during 1778 and returned during his 1824 visit.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|70–74}}
*'''21 Elk Street'''. Orr and Cunningham, the builders of Pruyn's house, are considered to have surpassed it with this one, built in 1845 for ]. It is unlikely however that he lived there for any length of time since he was elected to the U.S. Senate by the legislature later that year in a special election. Pruyn lived there for a while instead, and ] made it his residence during his term as governor.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />
*West Capitol Park: A modest 1898 design by the sons of legendary park designer ] was eventually expanded to its present size in the 1930s by several other architects in an attempt to create one of the "courts of honor" favored by the ]. Its statue is a replica of ]'s '']'', facing the capitol, placed to commemorate the bicentennial of his birth.<ref name="Albany Architecture" />{{rp|80}}
*'''25 Elk Street'''. ], an assemblyman, Congressman, and later ] lived here between the 1830s and 1850s. He also owned the now-demolished 1 Elk Street, which he rented to several other politicians, including three governors.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />
*'''29 Elk Street'''. A striking house of brick laid in ], with marble ] columns on the first floor topped by ] ones on the second, this was the residence of Episcopal bishop ] from his appointment in 1869 to his death four decades later. It continued to be the residence of subsequent bishops through the 1960s.<ref name="Albany Architecture 74–78" />


==See also== ==See also==
{{portal|Architecture|National Register of Historic Places|New York (state)}}
*]
*] *]
{{clear}}


==References== ==References==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Lafayette Park Historic District}}


{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}} {{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}


] ]
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Latest revision as of 02:59, 7 January 2025

Neighborhood in Albany, New York This article is about the neighborhood around the New York State Capitol in Albany. For the park north of the White House in Washington, D.C., see Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. For other uses, see Lafayette Park (disambiguation).

United States historic place
Lafayette Park Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Three- and four-story brick buildings in various colors seen from across a street. A large tree is in the middle of the image.Elk Street row houses, 2011
Lafayette Park Historic District is located in New YorkLafayette Park Historic DistrictShow map of New YorkLafayette Park Historic District is located in the United StatesLafayette Park Historic DistrictShow map of the United States
LocationAlbany, NY
Coordinates42°39′11″N 73°45′24″W / 42.65306°N 73.75667°W / 42.65306; -73.75667
Area36 acres (15 ha; 150,000 m)
NRHP reference No.78001837
Added to NRHPNovember 15, 1978

The Lafayette Park Historic District is located in central Albany, New York, United States. It includes the park and the combination of large government buildings and small rowhouses on the neighboring streets. In 1978 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Many of its contributing properties are themselves listed on the National Register. One of them, the New York State Capitol, is a National Historic Landmark as well. Other government buildings include City Hall, the building housing Albany County government, the state's highest court and the offices of its Education Department along with the offices of the City School District of Albany. The Episcopal Diocese of Albany's cathedral is at one corner of the district.

While the state capitol building has always been located on its present site, for most of the 19th century the neighborhood was best known for the townhouses on Elk Street, then one of the most desirable addresses in the city. Many politicians, including some of the state's governors and presidents Martin Van Buren and Franklin D. Roosevelt, lived there at different times. Henry James would recall the neighborhood from his childhood visits to his aunt as "vaguely portentous, like beasts of the forest not wholly exorcised." Two significant technological accomplishments—the development of the first working electromagnet and the construction of the first cantilevered arch bridge—also took place within it. Henry Hobson Richardson, Philip Hooker and Marcus T. Reynolds are among the architects with buildings in the district.

The park that gives the district its name was not actually built until the early 20th century, after larger government buildings had begun to dominate the area. In it and the other three parks are statues commemorating George Washington and Albany natives like Civil War general Phillip Sheridan and electromagnet discoverer Joseph Henry. John Quincy Adams Ward and J. Massey Rhind are among the sculptors represented. Although the district has been affected by modern trends—most of the Elk Street houses are now offices for various organizations that lobby the state government—it has remained mostly intact. It remains a vital part of Albany's public sphere, with the parks having hosted everything from benefit sales for soldiers' medical care during the Civil War to Occupy Albany's tent encampments and protests during the 2010s.

Geography

The 36-acre (15 ha; 150,000 m) district is rectangular, extending a block to the north and south of Washington Avenue (New York State Route 5), with an irregularly shaped projection at its northeast corner. From its southeast corner, at the intersection of State and Eagle streets, it runs west along State, between the state capitol and the Empire State Plaza office complex to the south. At South Swan Street, it turns north, with the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building and other contributing properties of the adjacent Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District on the west.

It continues north two blocks, now bordering the Washington Avenue Corridor Historic District, to the Elk Street intersection. Here it runs past Cathedral of All Saints and the back of the State Education Department building to the South Hawk Street intersection. The boundary turns north along the continuation of South Hawk and then turns east again to Columbia Street at the entrance to the top deck of a large parking garage in nearby Sheridan Hollow.

At the Eagle Street junction, it turns north to the rear lot line of a building on that side of the street, then along its east line to the rear lines of the rowhouses along Columbia Street all the way to Chapel Street. It follows that street south back to Columbia, and turns east again all the way to Lodge Street, again sharing a boundary, this time with the Downtown Albany Historic District.

A map of the district showing its boundaries in red, parkland in green, buildings in gray and major roadways in dark pink
Map of the district

Just before reaching St. Mary's Church, at Steuben Street, the line turns west again, then south, between the New York State Court of Appeals Building and the parking lot behind it. Crossing Pine Street it jogs slightly westward, then turns south and west to Eagle Street, around the back of City Hall. From there it turns south in the middle of Eagle Street and returns to the southeast corner.

The terrain slopes gently eastward, toward the nearby Hudson River, becoming slightly steeper in the eastern portion of the district. On the north it drops off more abruptly into Sheridan Hollow.

Much of the southern portion of the district is open space. East and West Capitol parks flank that building. To its northeast, on the block between Elk, Eagle, Hawk and Washington, is one large park that is actually two: Lafayette Park, owned by the state, on the west and city-owned Academy Park on the east. In between them on the north side is the former Albany Academy building, now the main offices of the Albany City School District.

The large government buildings around the park were, like the state capitol, built in the late 19th century. Their architectural styles vary from the capitol's mix of Second Empire and French Renaissance Revival to the Classical Revival stylings of the Court of Appeals and Education Department building. The cathedral adds some Gothic Revival to the mix. The residential areas in the north primarily have two-story brick townhouses dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are 35 buildings in the district; all but three are contributing properties

History

The district has an early period corresponding roughly to the 19th century, in which it was noted for the residences of socially prominent residents and politicians. After the completion of the current capitol building at century's end, it began to be dominated by large government buildings, with the open space, including the park that gives the district its name, coming into place in the early decades of the new century.

1809–1899: Elk Street and residences

A two-story brown stone building with a green cupola and a statue in front, within a park
Original Albany Academy building

The neighborhood has been home to the centers of power since it was established. In 1809, 12 years after Albany was permanently designated New York's state capital at the end of the 18th century, the first state capitol building in the city was erected on a site adjacent to the location of the current building. The city government used the building as well for meetings and office space. Philip Hooker's original Albany Academy building, the oldest extant building in the district, was built 1815–17.

In the academy building, a dozen years later, one of the school's professors, Joseph Henry, conducted experiments with electricity that proved the existence of inductance and created the first functional electromagnet. For several years in the early 1830s he demonstrated the practical effects of this discovery to his classes by using a magnet to ring a bell at the end of a wire run around the room. Not only was this the prototype for the electric doorbell, it has been considered an important step on the road to the invention of the telegraph two decades later.

In 1832, the city government decided it needed its own city hall, and Hooker provided a domed marble Greek Revival building on the present site, which had already been designated for future development as a public square. The next year, the two acres (8,100 m) on the east of the Academy building were formally laid out as Academy Park. It was encircled by an iron fence similar to that which Hooker had designed for nearby Capitol Park. Elk and Columbia streets were the center of development, primarily residential, in the district during this era. On the former, the houses closest to the park, Nos. 2 through 7, were built between 1827 and 1833, among them some considered Albany's finest Greek Revival houses. Columbia Street, where Henry made his home at 107, was developed more modestly.

Because of its proximity to the capitol, Elk Street was often a preferred residence of the state's governors during this era, since New York did not erect its governor's mansion until later in the 19th century. William L. Marcy lived at 2 Elk Street during his first term, and Hamilton Fish made 21 Elk his home after he was elected in 1848. Daniel Barnard, a congressman and later ambassador to Germany, lived at 25 Elk Street and may have owned 1 Elk Street (since demolished). Three governors—Enos T. Throop, Washington Hunt and Horatio Seymour—rented the building from him during their tenure in office.

Martin van Buren, a state senator and New York's Attorney General before he became U.S. President, owned 4 Elk Street and lived there for some of the time he was not serving in the latter post. While he was, it was occupied by his son Smith Thompson and his wife, Ellen King James. Among the visitors who came to the house in the later years was Ellen's young nephew Henry. Later in his life, when he had become an accomplished novelist, he wrote that Elk Street had always seemed to him "vaguely portentous, as though beasts of the forests not fully exorcised."

A three-story light-colored stone building. In the front a pedimented central pavilion with six Ionic columns projects. Between the second and third stories of the main facade there is a large molded cornice.
The Court of Appeals building

The first of the large buildings, mostly governmental edifices, that dominate the district today, the New York State Court of Appeals Building, was designed in 1835 and opened in 1842. Originally "State Hall", housing a number of other state offices before the court moved in following its 1847 creation, Henry Rector's neoclassical structure used all three orders in its design. It was considered one of the finest government buildings of its era. Four years later, 17 Elk Street, the grandest house yet built on that street, was sold to John V. L. Pruyn, an industrialist who later served in the state senate and U.S. House. It was expanded to the east in 1858.

After the Civil War, during which a temporary structure was set up in Academy Park as the Army Relief Bazaar to raise money for medical supplies, this change accelerated further with the beginning of construction of the new capitol. Marcus T. Reynolds, an architect who worked in the city through the 1930s, was born at 98 Columbia Street in 1869 and lived there both as a child and an old man. In 1880, Hooker's 1832 City Hall burned down. Henry Hobson Richardson, then in Albany working on the state capitol, designed the current building to replace it, and it was soon completed, in part because the budget and cost overruns did not allow for an interior to match Richardson's ornate Romanesque exterior.

In the decade after the war, Elk Street continued to be a residential neighborhood. Reflecting the Gilded Age, most of those who made their homes there were not politicians but some of the city's newly wealthy industrialists. The park was neglected during this time—Huybertie Pruyn, who lived in the area as a child during the 1870s and '80s, recalls it as a "wretchedly kept place". It had only one light in the center, was locked at 10 p.m. every night, and even so children were warned not to go into it after dark.

The Rev. William Croswell Doane had been appointed bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in 1867. He lived at 29 Elk Street, and presided over the construction of Cathedral of All Saints, completed in 1888. The young architect Robert W. Gibson won the commission over Richardson with his Gothic Revival design. Doane's original plan was for the block on which the cathedral was located to be an entire campus with a school, hospital and convent, a "mother church" for the diocese, similar to some Anglican cathedrals in England. He was unable to persuade the church's trustees to spend the additional money, which would have an effect on the building later.

The same year, the thousand-foot (300 m) Hawk Street Viaduct was built, connecting the neighborhoods north of Sheridan Hollow, now home to many of the workers in the industrialized city, with the Lafayette Park area. Since dismantled, it is believed to have been the first cantilevered arch bridge in the world, designed by former state engineer Elnathan Sweet. A segment of the iron railing and its south abutment remain, as contributing properties.

Elk Street remained an address known for its high style. In 1897, newly elected Lieutenant Governor Timothy L. Woodruff, who would serve three governors in that position, moved into 5 Elk Street. Albany society took immediate notice of his penchant for the latest clothing, his fine horses, and his English coachman, who had most recently worked for Lilly Langtry, Prince Edward's mistress.

In 1899, the new state capitol was finally finished. With government so firmly established in the area, some of the old houses nearby began to be adapted into office space for institutions that desired the proximity to the state's elected officials, or subdivided into smaller living spaces. A fire insurers' organization converted 1–2 Columbia Place, including one of the buildings that had served as sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer's studio in the middle of the century, into its offices. Similarly, 105–107 Columbia Street became an apartment building.

1900–present: New Capitol, government buildings and parks

A tall white stone building with a colonnaded facade and intricate decorations on the stonework, much longer along the street to its left then the side facing the camera. There are trees in front of it on the right and a taller, more modern building behind it.
The State Education Department Building

The early 20th century significantly transformed the district. First, two more large government buildings were added. In 1906 Andrew Sloan Draper, first commissioner of the state's State Education Department (SED), wanted to move his agency into space of its own near the capitol along with the state library and museum. He considered the block on which Cathedral of All Saints stood to be the ideal location; however, the cathedral still owned some of the land and his approaches to the Doane, who had not abandoned his mother church plan, led to animosity between the two. While the bishop was traveling overseas, Draper used his political influence to have the state buy all the remaining land on the block. Doane, forced to abandon his longtime plan, succeeded in getting the legislature to limit the SED building to two stories, but Draper retaliated by making sure that those two stories, on Henry Hornbostel's colonnaded marble Beaux-Arts structure were as tall as possible, blocking the cathedral off from the rest of the city.

While it was being built, the district would be home for two years to another resident later to become prominent, future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He lived in 4 Elk Street from 1910 to 1912 while serving as a state senator. Other houses nearby, and on Columbia, were being renovated, usually by Marcus T. Reynolds. In 1912, the Education Department building was completed, followed four years later by Albany County's new courthouse and office building next to the Court of Appeals.

During the time the district was preparing to receive its distinguishing feature. Starting in 1908, the block between Academy Park and Hawk Street was cleared to create Lafayette Park, named for the Marquis de Lafayette, who had stayed in Albany during 1778 and visited the city in the 1820s. In the process more than 30 houses were demolished, including those of Palmer and writer Leonard Kip. With the space opening up, more public statuary was erected. Daniel Chester French arranged for John Quincy Adams Ward's memorial sculpture to Union Army General Phillip Sheridan, an Albany native, to be posthumously placed on a pedestal east of the capitol designed by Lincoln Memorial architect Henry Bacon. In 1925, a J. Massey Rhind statue of another Albany military man, Revolutionary War General Phillip Schuyler, went up in front of City Hall. It was followed two years later by one of Joseph Henry, sculpted by John Flanagan, in front of the Albany Academy.

A metallic statue of a man with a short ponytail in his hair, seen from behind, wearing a long coat and holding clothes in his left arm and a walking stick in his right. He is facing a tall stone building in the distance with red peaked roofs. On either side of the image is a row of trees
Statue of Washington in West Capitol Park

West Capitol Park was expanded threefold from a modest plan submitted by the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted in 1898. In keeping with the ideals of the contemporary City Beautiful movement, it was reimagined as a "court of honor", surrounded by the Capitol, SED building and the newer Alfred E. Smith Building, towering over the older ones at the park's west side. Ideas by former state architects Franklin B. Ware and Lewis Pilcher were also incorporated. When it opened in 1930 it framed the capitol's west facade with a tree-lined entrance mall. A replica of Jean-Antoine Houdon's statue of George Washington, displayed in the rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol, was installed in the park in 1932 to commemorate the first president's bicentennial.

The changes in the neighborhood were reflected in its building use. In 1930, the academy moved out of the building it had outgrown; after the city bought it eventually became the offices of the Albany City School District. Reynolds, in one of his final projects, supervised the renovation of the interior, a New Deal project funded by the Public Works Administration. The Pruyns had moved out of 17 Elk Street around 1910; their house eventually became the state headquarters of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. They were followed by most of the other socially prominent families who had called Elk home. The house at 4, where the young Henry James had visited his aunt almost a century before, likewise became home to another fraternal organization, the Moose International.

Through the middle of the century the district remained stable, with no significant new buildings, demolitions or other changes. That began to change in the late 1960s as urban renewal touched Albany, and the modernist towers of Empire State Plaza rose to the south, dwarfing the older government buildings in the district. Preservation efforts grew. Daniel Barnard's old house at 1 Elk Street was demolished in 1969. At the corner of Elk and Eagle, activists were able to save the facades of three townhouses which were otherwise to have been demolished for another modernist building, James Stewart Polshek's New York Law Center, which they serve to screen from the street.

The following year, 1970, the Hawk Street viaduct was dismantled. Only its south abutment and a portion of its handrail were left. As Empire State Plaza neared completion in the late 1970s, the state library and museum left the SED building for larger, dedicated space of their own built within the new complex.

In 1986, a memorial to Albany County's dead and missing from the Vietnam War was commissioned for Lafayette Park. Sculptor Merlin Szosz produced a stele in the classical Greek mode, made of pink Brazilian granite and adorned with the names of those casualties, plus a relief of a soldier holding his fallen comrade amid Southeast Asian vegetation. It is set amid four gas lanterns shaped like lotuses and a circle of bronze benches. It was installed and dedicated in 1992.

A group of people marching along a city street ahead of the camera, carrying various signs and banners. On their right is a building with tall, smooth stone facades; on the left a more ornate stone stairway and streetlamp
Occupy Albany's 2012 May Day march along State Street

Two decades later, the social turmoil that accompanied the Vietnam War on the home front echoed through the park anew. In October 2011, protesters inspired by Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan set up Occupy Albany, a tent encampment in the parks, to call attention to rising socioeconomic inequality during the Great Recession as their fellow activists downstate had. The state originally instituted a curfew of 11 p.m. for Lafayette Park in order to force them to leave, and police cited several of them for violating it. These plans failed when David Soares, the county district attorney, dropped the charges and city officials issued the group a permit to stay in Academy Park, which was under its jurisdiction and not the state's, in return for its cleanup efforts and limitations on its presence. Occupy Albany stayed in the park for another 15 days before the city evicted it as winter came on. The group continues to hold rallies and events in the parks.

Significant contributing properties

Six buildings in the district are individually listed on the National Register in addition to being contributing properties to the district. They include the cathedral and all government buildings save the county courthouse. One of those government buildings, the state capitol, is further designated a National Historic Landmark. There are still others that are noteworthy within the context of the district.

National Historic Landmark

An ornate building, several stories high, of light colored stone. Many arches are visible on its front. On its sides are two large towers with pyramidal red roofs, echoed by similar smaller towers closer to the center with stone tops. In front of the camera, at bottom, is a plaza with a wavy-line pattern
State Capitol from southwest
  • New York State Capitol, State Street: One of the last state capitol buildings in the nation to be located in an urban center when it was finished in 1899 after a 32-year construction period plagued by delays, it is also one of 11 that are not domed. Original architect Thomas Fuller had, in fact, designed a domed Renaissance Revival building, but he was forced off the project due to cost overruns in building the first three stories, and it was later left to various other architects, including Henry Hobson Richardson, to finish the 220-foot (67 m) structure in the Romanesque Revival mode, and as a result of this discontinuity it is often referred to as "a building at war with itself."

National Register of Historic Places

A light brown building with dark brown trim stands on a street corner; it has an arched entrance at left, a double-peaked roof, and a 200-foot tower at the closest corner.
Albany City Hall

Others

  • 83 and 85 Columbia Street: These two pre-Civil War townhouses have unusual bowed facades.
  • 98 Columbia Street: The residence of architect Marcus T. Reynolds during his earliest and latest years. He grew up here, raised by his father and aunt after his mother died while he was very young. After his professional success, he bought the house and remodeled it.
  • 99 Columbia Street: Local cabinetmaker John Meads built what is probably another Hooker design in 1829. While its original concave entrance has been moved to the Albany Institute of History & Art, Meads' interior carvings remain.
  • 107 Columbia Street: Joseph Henry lived here while he was teaching and experimenting at the Albany Academy. His house was actually one of the two Federal style buildings that have since been combined.
  • 2 Elk Street: Several years after this 1827 townhouse was completed, Governor William L. Marcy made it his official residence. It is believed to have been designed by Hooker, since it complements the Academy building across the street. Congressman Rufus H. King lived there later in the 19th century.
  • 4 Elk Street: Built around the same time as its neighbor, this townhouse was owned by, and at times home to, Martin van Buren; his son and daughter-in-law lived there after his presidency. It was visited by her nephew, the young Henry James; later it was the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt for one of his terms in the State Senate.
  • 6 Elk Street: When this red brick house was built in 1834, it was one of the largest on the street and one of Albany's best Greek Revival houses. William Patterson Van Rensselaer, a descendant of one of colonial Albany's wealthiest and most prominent families, built it upon his marriage. Later it would serve as the deanery for the cathedral.
  • 17 Elk Street: This ornate Gothic Revival townhouse displaced 6 and 7 Elk as the grandest on the block when it was finished in 1845. Builder John V. L. Pruyn was a consolidator of the New York Central Railroad and later a state senator, U.S. Representative, regent of the University of the State of New York.
  • 21 Elk Street: Orr and Cunningham, the builders of Pruyn's house, are considered to have surpassed it with this one, built in 1845 for John Adams Dix. It is unlikely however that he lived there for any length of time since he was elected to the U.S. Senate by the legislature later that year in a special election. Pruyn lived there for a while instead, and Hamilton Fish made it his residence during his term as governor.
  • 25 Elk Street: Daniel D. Barnard, an assemblyman, Congressman, and later ambassador to Prussia lived here between the 1830s and 1850s. He also owned the now-demolished 1 Elk Street, which he rented to several other politicians, including three governors.
  • 29 Elk Street: A striking house of brick laid in Flemish bond, with marble Doric columns on the first floor topped by ionic ones on the second, this was the residence of Episcopal bishop William Croswell Doane from his appointment in 1869 to his death four decades later. It continued to be the residence of subsequent bishops through the 1960s.
  • Albany County Courthouse, 16 Eagle Street: The last of the large government buildings in the district to be erected, this 1910s granite and limestone Classical Revival design was meant to be sympathetic with the Court of Appeals building next door, featuring the same combination of Doric columns at the lower levels and Ionic columns above. Its intricate ornamentation extends to its bronze doors and cast iron exterior lamps with an acanthus motif. Inside it is centered around a two-story light court with marble Doric and Ionic columns and a vaulted ceiling of stained glass.
  • Hawk Street Viaduct Abutment and Railing, North Hawk Street: These are all that remains of the Hawk Street Viaduct, believed to have been the first cantilevered arch bridge when it was built in 1888 to carry pedestrians over Sheridan Hollow to and from the working-class neighborhoods north of downtown. It was dismantled in 1970.

Parks

Plaque in Lafayette Park
  • Academy Park: The first park in the district was created in 1833 and named for the nearby school. In its two acres (8,100 m) is a statute of Joseph Henry, commemorating his discovery of electromagnetism in the nearby building.
  • East Capitol Park: A statute of Civil War general Phillip Sheridan, who lived in Albany as a boy, stands between Eagle Street and the main steps of the state capitol building. Daniel Chester French lobbied to have it placed here after sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward's death.
  • Lafayette Park: The larger portion of land west of the Academy building was a developed block until the 1920s. The resulting park was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, who lived in the city during 1778 and returned during his 1824 visit.
  • West Capitol Park: A modest 1898 design by the sons of legendary park designer Frederick Law Olmsted was eventually expanded to its present size in the 1930s by several other architects in an attempt to create one of the "courts of honor" favored by the City Beautiful movement. Its statue is a replica of Jean-Antoine Houdon's George Washington, facing the capitol, placed to commemorate the bicentennial of his birth.

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ Brook, C.E.; Spencer-Ralph, E. (April 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Lafayette Park Historic District". U.S. National Archives. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  3. ^ Opalka, Anthony (1993). Diana Waite (ed.). Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City. Albany, NY: Mount Ida Press. ISBN 9780962536816. Retrieved July 19, 2002.
  4. ^ Hochfelder, David (1998–2007). "Joseph Henry: Inventor of the Telegraph?". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  5. T. Robins Brown and E. Spencer-Ralph (1976). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Center Square/Hudson-Park Historic District". U.S. National Archives. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  6. "Washington Avenue Corridor". Historic Albany. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  7. "Sheridan Hollow Parking Garage" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  8. John F. Harwood and Austin O'Brien (September 7, 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Downtown Albany Historic District". Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  9. Albany Quadrangle – New York – Albany, Rensselaer Cos (Map). 1:24,000. USGS 7½-minute series. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Fitzgerald, Bryan (January 5, 2021). "Occupy gets OK to stay for now". Times Union.
  11. "Contact Us". City School District of Albany. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  12. "New York State Capitol". National Historic Landmark summary listing. U.S. National Archives. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  13. Liebs, Chester (September 1970). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, New York State Court of Appeals Building". U.S. National Archives. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  14. Liebs, Chester H. (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: New York State Department of Education Building". Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  15. Petito Jr., Robert A.; Waite, John G. (November 14, 2003). "Architectural History" (PDF). Cathedral of All Saints. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 15, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  16. "City of Albany history". City of Albany. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  17. "The Capitol". University Art Museum at University at Albany. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  18. "Court of Appeals Hall: Construction, Renovation & Renovation" (PDF). Historical Society of the Courts of New York. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  19. ^ Liebs, Chester (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, New York State Court of Appeals Building". U.S. National Archives. p. 3. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  20. ^ Brooke, Cornelia (November 1973). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Cathedral of All Saints, Albany". U.S. National Archives. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  21. ^ Petito Jr., Robert A.; Waite, John G. (November 14, 2003). "Architectural History" (PDF). Cathedral of All Saints. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 15, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  22. Federal Writers' Project (1940). New York State: A Guide to the Empire State. Oxford University Press. p. 191. Retrieved June 22, 2021 – via University of Michigan Library.
  23. Banks, David (December 23, 2011). "Our eviction from Academy Park". Times Union. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  24. Occupy Albany (April 30, 2012). "Let Freedom Spring". Times Union. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
  25. Liebs, Chester H. (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: New York State Department of Education Building". U.S. National Archives. Retrieved July 11, 2021.

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U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York
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