Downtown Albany Historic District

The district is an irregular area, shaped like a rough crescent. It is centered along the axes of North and South Pearl (NY 32) and State (NY 5 west of Pearl) streets. A combination of natural features, streets, and legal boundaries serves to delineate it. Downtown is located to the northeast of and downhill from the modernist towers of Empire State Plaza, and east of the state capitol. On the east it is bounded by the Hudson River and Interstate 787, with Eagle Street its western side (excluding City Hall, the state Court of Appeals and the county courthouse). To the north, the boundary follows Columbia Street to Chapel Street, then north to Sheridan Street. It continues east to North Pearl and then follows rear lot lines along the north side of Columbia to Broadway and out to I-787, then turns south. At the district's southern tip, it comes inland again to Pruyn Street, which it follows for a block to Liberty Street and then turns north to Hudson Avenue, where it follows an irregular route along property lines to Norton Street. Here it continues west to South Pearl, and after a short twist to the north it follows Howard Street west. At William Street it turns south again, and then follows some property lines west to Beaver Street across from the Times Union Center. At Wendell Street it turns north to Howard and follows Howard west back to Eagle. This area takes in 19 blocks and parts of several others. James and Steuben streets, as well as Maiden Lane, are included in their entirety along with some narrow alleys within blocks. The area is totally developed, with many multistory buildings used as office space with storefronts at street level. Open space between them and on the edges is used for parking lots. There are no significant parks or squares within it. ==History==

Downtown has always been the center of Albany from its founding in the 17th century. Its built environment did not take its present form until the late 19th. Since then it has remained relatively stable, with some decaying buildings facing demolition pressure as part of redevelopment efforts. Colonial and Revolutionary period The area within the district was the same as that originally settled by the Dutch in the 17th century north of Fort Orange, a high area between two ravines that have since been filled in. It became British in 1664 and was renamed Albany, It serves as a focal point when looking east down State Street. Two of Reynolds' other buildings in the district, the 1897 First Trust Company Building at State and Broadway, and the 1902 United Traction Company Building at Broadway and Columbia, similarly guide the eye down Broadway as it bends. The old buildings were spared the fate of demolition through urban renewal as the city's political machine under Daniel P. O'Connell mostly eschewed the federal funding for such projects since the federal government would award contracts, limiting the city machine's patronage. New development in the center of Albany instead took the form of what was originally known as the "South Mall Project" proposed by Governor Nelson Rockefeller. This cleared southwest of downtown for a complex centered on five tall state office buildings in high modernist style. When completed in the late 1970s, Empire State Plaza became the new centerpiece of the city's skyline, and Erastus Corning Tower its tallest building. The Delaware and Hudson moved out of its building following the decline in its industry, and after a few years of vacancy it was purchased by the state to become the main headquarters of the State University of New York. 21st century In the late 1980s Sebba Rockaway, a British developer, proposed to demolish a row of buildings, all contributing, at 136–40 State Street and replace them with a 14-story office complex. Preservationists objected, but the city granted permission. The project was later canceled when Sebba failed to find tenants for the property. A decade later, it put forth a similar expanded proposal, which would have demolished not only the original properties but the long-vacant Wellington Row which includes the Wellington and Berkshire hotels, as well as the former Albany Elks lodge. This time the preservationists sued the city to stop the demolition. The buildings continued to deteriorate, and in 2004 a section of State Street was closed since part of the Wellington's cornice was in danger of falling into it. A new owner, Columbia Development Companies, bought the properties and finally reached a compromise that preserved the façades of the Wellington and the other State Street buildings, with the new office building to rise behind them. Demolition began in 2009. New construction or expansion within the district is reviewed by the city's Historic Resources Commission (HRC), a group of nine citizens with an interest in architecture, history or historic preservation appointed by the mayor. The HRC also considers new city landmark designations. The area also comes under the purview of several of Albany's neighborhood associations. In 2022, the state proposed to the National Park Service (NPS) some changes to the district as a result of additional research into its history and developments since then, which were accepted in May. Along the southern boundary, a lot on the south side of Beaver Street near the south end of Lodge has been removed from the district as the building on it was demolished to make way for MVP Arena. At the eastern corner, an area taking in three c. 1875 rowhouses on the west side of Eagle Street near the Beaver intersection, along with the 1960s office building north of them with the official address of 145–150 State Street, were added to the district. ==Significant contributing properties==

Six of the district's properties are listed on the National Register in their own right, and one is a National Historic Landmark. There are several others that are notable. National Historic Landmark • St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 107 State Street. Richard Upjohn and his son designed this church completed in 1860, for a congregation founded in 1704. It is in French Gothic revival style and considered one of his best churches. The remains of Lord Howe were interred under the vestibule; he is the only British Lord buried in the United States. It was listed on the Register in 1972 and then designated an NHL eight years later. National Register of Historic Places • Delaware and Hudson Railroad Company Building, Broadway and State Street. Currently used as the headquarters of the State University of New York, this is downtown Albany's best-known building. It may have been inspired by the 13th-century Flemish Gothic Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium; built in 1913 by local architect Marcus F. Gilbert. • James T. Foley United States Courthouse, 445 Broadway, built 1931–1934 in the Art Deco style. • Old Post Office, Broadway and State Street. The Renaissance Revival design of this 1883 post office was a less expensive substitute for the larger structure originally planned before the land turned out to be far more expensive than expected. • First Trust Company Building, Broadway and State. A 1902 Gilbert building in the classic Beaux Arts style. • '''St. Mary's Church''', 10 Lodge Street. When built in 1869 by Nichols and Brown, this third building to house the city's oldest Catholic church was an early application of the Romanesque Revival. Upon completion of its tower in the 1890s it became the first Albany church with electric lighting. • United Traction Company Building, Broadway and Columbia. 1902 Beaux Arts Gilbert building that also serves as a focal point going down Columbia Street. • Van Ostrande–Radliff House oldest building in Albany, added to register in 2008. • YMCA Building, 60 North Pearl. An 1886 Richardsonian Romanesque building by Albert Fuller. • National State Bank Building, 60 State Street. A Classical Revival "temple of finance" designed by York and Sawyer in 1901. • R.B. Wing Building, 384 Broadway. Local architect Walter Van Guysling's Dutch Colonial Revival building brought that style back to the district in 1913. • Albany Masonic Temple, the oldest continuously owned Masonic property in the United States. ==See also==