Albany, New York, USA (Fort Orange)
1895 - Albany

Albany, a city, capital (since 1797) of the state of New York, and of Albany co., on the W. bank of Hudson River, lat. 42° 39' 3" N., lon. 73° 32' W., 142 miles N. of New York, and at the junction of the New York Central & Hudson River, the Boston & Albany, the Rensselaer & Saratoga, the Albany & Susquehanna, and the West Shore Railroads. This position, together with the fact that the river (crossed by three double-track iron railroad drawbridges) connects here with the great lakes by the Erie Canal, and with Lake Champlain by the Champlain Canal, gives Albany great advantages as a receiving and distributing point, especially for grain and lumber, and makes it an important centre of the western trade. A project is also under consideration for so deepening the channel of the river as to make it navigable for ocean steamers directly to the Albany harbor. The city is well built, with some very fine streets and 140 acres of beautifully finished parks and boulevards (costing over $1,540,000), besides 264 acres in process of development. , Leading, industries on a large scale, besides printing and book-making, are the manufacture of stoves and other metal goods, clothing of every description, boots and shoes, beer and ale, pianos, card board, glazed and colored papers, papermakers' felt, and some others. Prominent buildings are the state capitol, on which nearly $20,000,000 had been spent down to 1892, without finishing it; the state hall, a fine structure of white marble; the state normal college, the state armory, the state geological and agricultural hall (with libraries and museums), the city buildings, the U.S. building for post-office and courts, the county penitentiary, almshouse and lunatic asylum, and Harmanus Bleecker Hall (property of the Young Men's Association), accommodating comfort ably an audience of 3580, and capable of holding 6000. Among other institutions may be named the Dudley Observatory and the medical, pharmaceutical and law schools, affiliated, since 1871, with Union College, Schenectady under the title of Union University; the High School, the Academy, the Female Academy, the Albany Institute, the Young Men's Christian Association, and St. Agnes School. There are also 25 public schools of lower grade, at which the attendance in 1891 was 14,412, the average daily attendance for the school year being 10,328. A public reading library of over 160,000 volumes is maintained by the state. Among charities are a number of hospitals and orphan asylums, homes for old men, old women and incurables, and a House of Shelter for fallen women, desirous of reforming. Albany is the seat of a Roman Catholic and of a Protestant Episcopal bishop, and has about 80 churches, the two cathedrals being the largest and handsomest; but several others are elegant structures. There are 17 banks and savings institutions, besides private banking establishments, and a number of excellent clubs. About 30 periodicals are published. Electric railways run to every part of the town and to Troy, West Troy, West Albany, Kenwood, Greenbush, and other suburbs. An excellent drainage system is in operation; and water is sup plied partly by pumping from the river and partly by natural streams impounded in reservoirs at the west. The lace was formerly known as Fort Orange, Beverwyck, and Williamstadt. It was settled in 1540 by Frenchmen, who began building a castle, which was completed by Dutchmen in 1615 and called Fort Nassau. Walloons from Holland settled here in 1624 and erected Fort Orange. The place was surrendered to the English, Sept. 24, 1664, and named Albany, in honor of the Duke of York and Albany, after wards James II. It was chartered a city in 1686. Pop. in 1800, 5289; in 1820, 12,630; in 1840, 33,721; in 1850, 50,703; in 1860, 62,367; in 1870, 69,422; in 1880, 90,758; in 1890, 94,923. The municipal lines within which these figures are taken are far from including the whole town, populous and closely-allied suburbs being excluded.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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