New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Port of Albany

The Rise & Fall of the Albany Lumber District (1810s-1910s)

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Tug Boat H R Hebard in Albany Lumber Yard, probably circa 1875Albany’s proximity to the Hudson River made it an ideal trading center, beginning with Native American-Dutch fur trading in the early seventeenth century.

By the late eighteenth century, the city had cultivated a small lumber market consisting of a half-dozen wholesale lumber merchants, clustered just south of the neighborhood around Columbia Street and present-day Clinton Avenue (to the south of what would later be considered the “Albany lumber district” proper). [Read more…] about The Rise & Fall of the Albany Lumber District (1810s-1910s)

1848 Great Albany Fire Kills 10, Burns Fleet of Schooners & Canal Boats

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View of State Street, Albany, 1848, by John Wilson (Albany Institute of History & Art)The following text is from an article printed in the New York Daily Herald of August 19, 1848.

The Albany papers are filled with accounts of the disastrous conflagration which took place in that city on the 17th inst. We are indebted to Capt. Gorham of the steamboat Hendrik Hudson, for Albany papers, delivered at an early hour on Friday afternoon. [Read more…] about 1848 Great Albany Fire Kills 10, Burns Fleet of Schooners & Canal Boats

The Ecological Impacts of 200 Years of Hudson River Dredging

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Crystal Valley Farms, "A View on the Hudson River at the Overslaugh," by William Croome (1790-1860), 1834 (Albany Institute of History & Art)The navigable portion of Hudson River provides a unique ecosystem with highly diverse habitats, despite being dramatically impacted by 200 years of dredging, retaining walls, and industrial development.

More than 85% of the river’s islands have been eliminated and most of the river’s side channels have been filled in. About half of the river shoreline between Troy and the Mario Cuomo Bridge (formally Tappan Zee) has been engineered. [Read more…] about The Ecological Impacts of 200 Years of Hudson River Dredging

The Port of Albany’s Commercial Importance

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View of Port of Albany and Rensselaer from the Corning Tower, 2009 (courtesy wikimedia user UpstateNYer)The Port of Albany is one of the five Upstate New York State port authorities, established for the economic development and the pursuit of waterborne commerce, in coordination with its host cities and the State. The other four ports are Buffalo, Oswego, Rochester, and Ogdensburg.

Albany, the Capital City of the Empire State has been a center of commerce for eastern New York State and western New England for over four hundred years. [Read more…] about The Port of Albany’s Commercial Importance

The Port of Albany Grain Elevators & Feed Mill

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The 13,500,000 bushel grain elevator at the port of Albany in 1941The following description is from 1941.

The Port of Albany grain elevator, which is located in the port commission area on the west side of the Hudson River, was constructed by the port commission and is leased for operation to the Cargill Grain Co., Inc.

It is of concrete construction, having a storage capacity of 13,500,000 bushels, and is equipped with facilities for rapid handling. A battery of eight pneumatic marine legs capable of moving 20,000 bushels an hour can be employed in the unloading of a vessel at one time. [Read more…] about The Port of Albany Grain Elevators & Feed Mill

Port of Albany: Piers, Wharves and Docks in 1941

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View along the warf of the Port of Albany Port District Commission loading cargo from railroad car to steamer, 1941The following description is from 1941.

There are 30 terminal facilities at the Port of Albany, including those on the east side of the Hudson River at and below Rensselaer. These facilities provide a total of 18,661 linear feet of berthing space with depths ranging from 33 to 6 feet at mean low water.

Of this number 10 with a total berthage of 2,948 feet are used for handling petroleum products and five with a berthage of 2,525 feet are used for handling miscellaneous cargo in foreign and domestic trade. Two facilities with 1,370 feet of berthage are used for handling grain, one with 200 feet provides space for the movement of iron and steel scrap, while another with 1,617 feet of berthing space is used exclusively for handling lumber. [Read more…] about Port of Albany: Piers, Wharves and Docks in 1941

Navigating the Port of Albany in 1941

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Crowded view of Port of Albany from the Lumber Terminal in ca. 1940-41The following description is from 1941.

The Port of Albany is situated in the eastern part of New York State about six miles below the head of tidewater on the Hudson River and about 143 miles north of the Battery New York City. The port district as legally established embraces the city of Albany and the lands belonging to the city of Albany within the town of Bethlehem, the city of Rensselaer, and all lands and waters in the Hudson River contiguous thereto.

The district is an important rail center from which railroad lines radiate in all directions. It is only a short distance approximately six miles south of the eastern and southern termini of the Erie and Champlain branches of the New York State Barge Canal system. [Read more…] about Navigating the Port of Albany in 1941

The Hudson River Overslaugh & The Old Anchorage

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Crystal Valley Farms, "A View on the Hudson River at the Overslaugh," by William Croome (1790-1860), 1834 (Albany Institute of History & Art)Powerful Hudson River currents have always changed the river, leaving shifting sand bars, shoals and shallow areas and even islands in their wake.

One of the more notable places on the Hudson where the forces of nature have impacted the history of river transportation – and indeed New York history itself – was the Overslaugh – a particularly shallow area off Castleton‘s Papscanee Island. [Read more…] about The Hudson River Overslaugh & The Old Anchorage

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