Lansing Park

In the early 1930’s, William Yates Lansing purchased a half interest in the Chester G. Ham coal business, at the end of Central and Forbes Avenues, along the Hudson River in Rensselaer, NY.







Lansing acquired full control of the business two years later, and his coal, lumber and hardware business operated in Rensselaer for decades.

Lansing grew up on a farm in Glen, Montgomery County. From Lansing's biography in "Troy and Rensselaer County, New York, a History" (1925, pg. 120):

In addition to all his other interests, Mr. Lansing is a practical farmer. He never ceased to enjoy farm life and agricultural work, and not long after he came to Rensselaer, he purchased a small farm comprising several acres of the finest agricultural land in the county.

Lansing bought part of the old Van Rensselaer farm on the southerly side of Forbes Ave., where he had a large home with a pond for ducks and swans. Lansing also owned land across the street in the Little Farms neighborhood. At his “Gypsy Camp Farm”, Lansing bred White Holland turkeys and White Plymouth Rock chickens.

In the 1930’s, Lansing even raised and sold peacocks, which must have been quite a sight. From the Geneva Daily Times, June 1, 1936:

W. Yates Lansing, who owns a peacock farm near here, said today he believed it to be the only one of its kind in New York State. There are 31 peacocks, mallard ducks and two swans on the farm. Most of the peacocks are of the blue, or common type, but included in the flock are two white ones and two green birds, the latter imported from Java. Lansing said the birds are no more trouble to raise than turkeys.

W. Yates Lansing died in 1938, and the land south of Washington Ave. was subdivided to become Lansing Park in 1947. The streets are Hazel, William, and Wallace Terraces, and Farley Drive, which was formerly known as Lansing Drive. Hazel Terrace was likely named for Lansing’s second wife Hazel, but the origin of the other names is uncertain. Does anyone know more?

This is final part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.); Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Eastland Park

The land for Eastland Park was part of the farm leased in 1790 by Martinus Sharpe, an early settler of Defreestville. The land was later owned by one of the DeFreest families, who sold it to Patrick Dunn in 1897.

In 1927, the Dunn farm was sold to Charles Wenz, Henry Meurs, Thomas Sherwood, Jr. and Dolfie Shufelt. Together with lawyer Ernest L. Boothby, these men formed the Eastland Park Association. This ad appeared in the Albany Evening Journal, Sept. 14, 1927 (click to zoom in).

Dolfi Shufelt, the president of the Association, had been a partner in Leahey & Shufelt, the masons and contractors on high-profile projects like the county bank building and the city reservoir. Leahey & Shufelt also developed the Lincoln Terrace neighborhood.

Charles Wenz worked as a roofer. Henry Meurs had served as Mayor of Rensselaer (1920-21) and as a NYS Assemblyman, and he owned Henry Meurs and & Sons Hardware.

Their plan included a man-made lake and a market plaza:

...on healthy, high ground where nature has combined with development progress to make this section attractive and desirable for discriminating home site seekers… A feature of the development is the beautiful grove which is planned for a park and will be deeded to the city... Here will be found scenic beauty unequaled.

Though the Eastland Park Association never built the lake, they kept the name Lakeview Avenue. Market Street was renamed Woodland Avenue.

Today the park offers a playground, baseball diamond, and basketball and tennis courts, and hosts summer picnics. The Rensselaer City History Research Center has records of the Eastland Park Association, for those wanting to do further research.

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.); Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Van Allen Park

Just west of Defreestville, the "rock cut" allows the road to pass through the rocky ridge that once bisected the 400 acre farm of John Evert Van Alen. Van Alen owned a general store in Greenbush, and was a U.S. Congressman from 1793 to 1799. He was also a surveyor who did work for the Patroon, and he surveyed part of the Eastern Turnpike.

John E. Van Alen had no children, and his nephew Evert Van Alen was heir to his estate. Evert was also a surveyor and civil engineer, and helped build the Erie Canal. Evert’s will split the farm between sons John and Stephen.

Stephen V. R. Van Alen inherited the western 90 acres, between the ridge and the farm of William P. Van Rensselaer. Stephen built the beautiful “Rock Hill” house west of the ridge.

In 1907, Stephen’s daughter Elizabeth V.A. Lape acquired the land from her sister Catherine, who had cared for their elderly father. In 1926, Elizabeth sold the land for this neighborhood to Bruce Corlis of Corliss Realty, Inc., St. Alban’s, VT.

Corliss filed a map in 1926, and the street names he used for Van Allen Park were: Delaware, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Florida, California, and Minnesota Avenues. Apart from the lots closest to Washington Ave, most of this neighborhood is actually in North Greenbush. Corliss created decades of address confusion when he duplicated many of the same street names in his 1925 Sherwood Park development, located off Columbia Turnpike in East Greenbush.

For more about the Van Alen family, read "Background and Social History of the site and Occupants of the John Evert and Anne Fryenmoet van Alen House", by Walter Richard Wheeler, Hartgen Archeological Associates, Inc.

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.); Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Zephyr Park (George and Elizabeth St.)

The November 1909 Rensselaer Eagle newspaper announced that the “Van Allen Park” plot had been filed, and new houses could go up in the spring on the “old Lape property”. Elizabeth V. A. Lape created this small development after her father, Stephen V.R. Van Alen, passed away in 1905. (More on the Van Alen's next time.)

Elizabeth’s map was actually titled “Fulton Park”, and the streets were Van Alen Ave., Lape Ave., Clermont Ave., and Fulton Ave. The last two names likely commemorated Robert Fulton’s steamboat Clermont, a replica of which had just come up the river for the grand 1909 Hudson-Fulton centennial celebration.

I found this map quite charming (click it to zoom in), because of the extra attention paid to the calligraphy.

In 1923, George J. Zepf seemed to be the owner of the property - he filed a new map for the “Lape Subdivision”. Deeds for the plots show that George and Delia Zepf were selling plots in a development they now called “Zephyr Park”. On George Zepf’s map, the street parallel to Forbes Ave. was eliminated, and the three cross-streets had been renamed Carolyn Ave., George St., and Elizabeth St. (George had sisters named Carrie and Lizzie - perhaps he and his siblings were the namesakes, or perhaps Elizabeth was named after Mrs. Lape.)

Only George and Elizabeth Streets are on the map today, and Carolyn Ave. likely became Delaware Ave. when the larger Van Allen Park was developed.

George Zepf was in the carpentry business with his brother Joseph, and they worked on many significant projects in Rensselaer, including building several of the firehouses.

If you have a picture of Elizabeth Lape or George Zepf, I would appreciate a copy via email (bathonhudson@gmail.com).

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.); Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Mann’s Street Names

On Oct. 19, 1909, a new subdivision called Little Farms was mapped on the north side of Forbes Avenue, beyond the old Rensselaer city limits. The street names appear to correspond to names of prominent local citizens of the era (these are educated guesses based on my newspaper research):

Mann Avenue

Elias Plum Mann was Mayor of Troy, NY from 1906 to 1911 (Republican), and was also a businessman and financier. He acquired the 64.13 acre plot via foreclosure, for development.

Mayor Mann graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1872 with a degree in civil engineering. His family was prominent in banking and real estate, and his father, Francis Norton Mann, also served as Mayor of Troy, as well as a Judge.

The 1911 Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs Vol II said that “The name of Mann is the synonym of uprightness and business integrity, and Elias P. Mann is one of the best-known representatives of the family, which has been an influential one for many years.”

Mayor Elias P. Mann
The Reporter, Sept. 6-9, 1908, NYS Library (974.741)

Rockefeller Street

William J. Rockefeller was Mayor of Rensselaer from 1907 to 1910, and also ran a business as an undertaker.

Mayor William J. Rockefeller
Renssealer Eagle, 1908

Munger Street

John F. Munger was a broker of fire insurance, real estate, and mortgages. He was also President of the Rensselaer County Bank.

John F. Munger

Renssealer Eagle, Jan. 15, 1910

Quay Street

George H. Quay was a Regents Examiner for the University of the State of New York, and had been school principal at Bath-on-the-Hudson union free school for 6 years. In 1908, he also advertised as a land surveyor.



Rollins Avenue (only partly developed)

Robert H. Rollins was Pastor of First Baptist Church (then on Second St. at Church), and Treasurer (later President) of the Rensselaer Brick Co. (on Forbes Ave. beyond Tenth). In 1905, Rev. Rollins leased the Forbes Manor and opened it as Van Rensselaer Park, and worked to raise community support for preserving the Manor house.

Reverend Robert H. Rollins
Van Rensselaer Park (974.741), NYS Library

Manders Avenue (mapped, but not developed)

Harry Manders served in the Rensselaer Police Department’s Second Precinct. He also operated a racetrack associated with the old Half-Way house, just east of the current location of 1001 Washington Ave. Manders purchased two lots from Mayor Mann in 1911.

Patrolman Harry Manders
Rensselaer City History Center

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.); Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Little Farms (Mann Ave.)

Until the turn of the last century, today’s North End (then part of North Greenbush) was mostly farmland and pine forest. Even when the Forbes family still summered at Beverwyck Manor, they were gradually selling off the former Van Rensselaer lands.

In 1868, John Bishop bought a 64.13 acre farm plot from Paul S. Forbes. The land bordered on the Plank road on the north side, and the Bishops were already in residence (he was probably leasing the farm).

The Gazetteer and business directory of Rensselaer County, N. Y. (1870-71) reported that John K. Bishop was a breeder of improved Suffolk hogs, and confirms he was farming 64 acres on the Albany & Sand Lake Plank Road.

1876 Beers Map – North Greenbush

John Bishop and his wife Kate eventually sold the land to Eliza and Peter Sheppard, another farming family. In 1880, the Sheppards obtained a mortgage from Charles B. Bishop of the city of Troy. The Sheppard mortgage was foreclosed in 1908, and the property was sold at auction to Elias Mann, who was the mayor of Troy, NY. Mayor Mann paid $1,500 for the entire 64 acres.

The Rensselaer Eagle announced the availability of the building lots on Sept. 25, 1909. On Oct. 14, 1909, the first plans were filed for an ambitious new neighborhood. (Interestingly, the map was made by John Flynn, Jr., who worked as the civil engineer for the city of Troy.)

"Little Farms" originally had five length-wise streets and four cross streets. There were 542 building plots, including a “hotel lot” for the half-way house.


The unfortunate circumstances of a complicated foreclosure were probably amplified by the old inter-city rivalry, and there was little support in the Rensselaer community for this development by "Troy real estate men". Despite a nearly two years of promotion and a free give-away offer, Mann's sales agents were only able to sell about half the lots.

Not surprisingly, the back lots in the deep ravine were the least popular. In 1911 a new map was filed, consolidating the back lots and eliminating a few streets. Rensselaer County tax map 133.73 shows the 1911 layout, including two streets which were never completed. You can check out the actual layout of today's Mann Ave. neighborhood here at Google Maps.

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms; Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Origins of Washington Avenue

The roadway of upper Washington Avenue dates back to colonial Rensselaerswyck, when farmers traveled it to bring their rents of grain and poultry to the Patroon, and maintained it as required by their leases. The pre-revolutionary route was called the “Albany Road”, and went from the ferry in Bath-on-the-Hudson to Deerfield, MA.

The road’s importance as a commercial and stage coach route grew, and in 1799, it was incorporated as the “Eastern Turnpike Road”, to finance road maintenance. The toll for a horse and rider was 5 cents, and a four-wheel carriage with two horses paid 12½ cents. For more info, see these older posts:

• The Albany Road and the Eastern Turnpike
• Directors of the Eastern Turnpike Road, 1799

The 19th century North Greenbush economy was based on transporting perishable farm goods to sell in Albany and Troy. This required good roads, which were expensive to build and maintain. In the mid-1800’s, the cheaper “plank roads” became wildly popular. In 1849, the Eastern Turnpike became the “Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road”, and a thick wooden surface was laid on the 11 mile stretch between the Bath ferry and the glass factory village at Sand Lake (Averill Park). For more info, see:

• The Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road
• Anatomy of a Plank Road
• The Toll Gates and the Shunpike Road
• Plank Road Directors, 1849

“Plank Road Fever” was short-lived. Planks had to be replaced more frequently than expected, which was costly. By the 1880’s, the wood surfaces were gone. The toll gates were removed after 1901, making the road, now known as “Forbes Avenue”, more attractive for residential development.

Sometime between 1926 and 1930, maps at the county clerk's office indicate that the road was renamed Washington Ave. (The name Washington Ave. originally only referred a the 5-block stretch between Broadway and what remains of Forbes Ave. today.) If anyone knows more about when and why this name change occurred, please post a comment or send an email to bathonhudson@gmail.com.

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.); Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

The Building Boom

During the Manor years, the only building between the Bath-on-the-Hudson toll gate and Defreestville was a half-way house for travelers (not even shown in this 1854 map). After the Forbes family left, the remaining manor lands along the Plank road were gradually sold.

Vintage Maps from the US Geological Service show little development along the plank road by 1893, almost 40 years later.


In 1897, the City of Rensselaer was formed, and in 1901, the city limits were extended to encompass the remaining Forbes Manor grounds (not including the upper Forbes Avenue tracts, which had been sold as farmland).

Rensselaer had become a manufacturing center and a major freight hub. Housing was tight, and Rensselaerites who were tired of the noise, soot, and smoke from the railroad yards looked for building lots outside the city.

Rumors that the United Traction Co. might extend their street car line made upper Forbes Ave. a very desirable location. The North End’s trendy park neighborhoods were about to take shape.

Rensselaer Eagle, August 8, 1908

NEW BUILDINGS PROVE THAT CITY IS SURELY BOOMING
...
Not in five years has building been so active in Rensselaer as it is now. New houses are going up all over the city and there are others in contemplation. ...

Many building lots have been sold out on the "plank road" as it is familiarly known to Rensselaerites, and several houses are in the course of erection there. Others are promised in the near future and the indications are that before snow files there will be a number of very good houses built out there.

The prospect that in the Spring, the United Traction Co. will extend its Broadway and Third Street line has been inducing many people to look for building sites along Washington avenue and upper Forbes avenue.
...
More Albanians than ever before are finding that they can live in Rensselaer, have a better house and much more breathing space for the same money than they are forced to pay in Albany. ...

That Rensselaer is booming and that it will continue to do so for some time to come is very evident.

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms; Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

The Manor

Henry Hudson’s river voyage of 1609 gave the Dutch West India Company territorial claims to the river valley. Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a Director in the company, suggested granting manorial rights known as Patroonships to encourage colonization. Van Rensselaer was the most successful of these Patroons, though he never visited the colony (he was a diamond and pearl dealer in Amsterdam). The 700,000-acre Manor of Rensselaerswyck was purchased from the Algonquian Mohican tribe in 1629, and spanned Albany, Rensselaer, and part of Columbia counties.

The Van Rensselaer Patroonship persisted for many generations, ending with General Stephen Van Rensselaer III, who managed 3,000 tenants on over 430,000 acres. Stephen III was known as the “Good Patroon” for his charity and leniency as a landlord. He was New York’s second Lieutenant Governor, fought in the War of 1812, served seven years in Congress, and co-founded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

When Stephen III died in 1839, his will divided the Manor between sons Stephen IV and William. Stephen IV inherited most of Albany County and the ancestral West Manor house. William inherited the East Manor (most of Rensselaer County), with 202,100 acres, 1,666 leasehold farms, and annual rents of 20,210 bushels of wheat.

William Paterson Van Rensselaer built Beverwyck Manor on the eastern bluffs of the Hudson River. The beautiful Greek Revival mansion was designed by architect Frederick Diaper, and completed in 1842.

The brothers worked aggressively to collect the overdue rents they’d inherited. (Stephen III “sold” land, but retained rights to the feudal rents.) The resulting Anti-Rent War of 1845-46 reformed the property laws, eliminating these "incomplete sales". With his manorial income gone, William couldn’t afford to maintain Beverwyck. He moved downstate to escape the Anti-Renters, and began selling off his lands.

In 1850, the mansion, with 900 acres, was purchased as a country house by Paul S. Forbes, a wealthy New York City merchant in the China trade with Russell & Co. The estate was known as Forbes Manor long after the family closed the mansion and moved away, twenty years later.

Abandoned for decades, the Forbes estate was used for picnics, baseball games, and gypsy encampments, while the mansion slowly fell into decay. In 1905, the Forbes Manor Improvement Company replaced the roof and began work on development projects including a brickyard, a box factory, and a horse racing track. The estate was briefly rechristened “Van Rensselaer Park”, and continued to host excursions and church picnics.

In 1911, the Franciscan Fathers Minor Conventuals bought the mansion to house St. Anthony-on-the-Hudson Seminary. Forbes Manor is on the national Historic Register, and is still privately owned by the Franciscans.

Beverwyck - Library of Congress

This is part of the series: North End Park Neighborhoods (download this as a free PDF here)

• The Manor; The Building Boom; Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms; Mann's Street Names; Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park; Eastland Park; Lansing Park

Video: Historic Rensselaer Photos

John Gavin has put together a great video from old photographs: A Pictoral History of Rensselaer, New York - 12144 - Settled in 1630

Great job!!

North End Park Neighborhoods

Rensselaer’s “North End” includes these five historic neighborhoods along upper Washington Ave. Originally part of the East Manor of Rensselaerswyck, this land was in high demand during the building boom of the early 1900’s. Our “park district” is enclosed by the wooded ravine of the Black Creek to the north, the Quackendary Kill hollow to the south, the ridge at the Rock Cut to the east, and I-90 to the west.


Prior to the turn of the last century, this area was part of North Greenbush. The city of Rensselaer had not yet been formed from Bath-on-the-Hudson, East Albany, and Greenbush. The colonial-era turnpike that is now Washington Ave. brought farm wagons and stage coaches through farmlands, pine forests, and the park-like setting of the East Manor grounds.

I've been researching the history of these neighborhoods, so the next few weeks of posts will be more or less as follows:

• The Manor
• The Building Boom
• Origins of Washington Ave.
  
• Little Farms (Mann Ave.)
• Mann's Street Names
  
• Zephyr Park
• Van Allen Park
• Eastland Park
• Lansing Park

This will be a multi-week series of posts. Don't want to wait? You can be an early proof-reader, and download a free brochure here. I live in this neighborhood, but I didn't grow up in Rensselaer, so I've compiled this information mostly from old maps and property titles in the County Clerk's office, as well as vintage books and newspapers online. If you have any corrections to my information, please email me at bathonhudson@gmail.com, so I can update the booklet. If you have any additional stories to share about these neighborhoods, please post a comment. Antique photos of Rensselaer's neighborhoods are welcome at the Rensselaer NY Facebook Page.

Inside Albany's Gypsy Camp

It was a beautiful spring weekend in Victorian Albany. The memory of the Great White Hurricane of 1888 was all too fresh - a blizzard buried the city under 48" of snow in March, and 30-40' drifts trapped people indoors for days. But the snow was gone, the sun was bright, and ladies in beribboned spring bonnets and gents in derby hats went out to walk in Washington Park, and visit the gypsy camp at Manning Boulevard.

THE TOUR OF THE TOWN
Monday, May 7, 1888 Albany Evening Journal

With the temperature in the seventies, the sun shining from a clear sky and a westerly breeze of just sufficient force to make pedestrianism delightful, people flocked from the houses to the streets yesterday. The streetcars running in the suburbs were crowded from morning until long after dusk. The scene in the park was an animated one, especially on the terraces and about the lake house. The big fountains in the lake threw up their solid streams of water into the air, only to have them return in glittering spray to the surface. The boulevard was more than well patronized, and the gypsy encampment at its junction with Washington avenue, a magnet that drew large crowds, especially girls and women. The few males who lounged about and watched others pitch pennies and trade horses included a JOURNAL man. It was not that he wanted his fortune told or to swap horses; he was seeking novelty. His steps, like those of other people, there, had been guided by some unforeseen power, and had he been asked why he chose the gypsy village, he would have been at a loss for an explanation.

The Stanley family, consisting of mother, father and two sons, are of that class of gypsies that prefer to remain in one locality for a long period, rather than keep on the go constantly. These people came here from England some years ago, and though they have been about cities a good deal of their time, and mingled freely with people in the common walks of life, they cannot break themselves of the Romanic dialect. The parent, though old, is erect, and has a ruddy, healthful face. His better half has jet black hair which is plastered against her temples. Her face, like that of her husband, has much color.

The younger members of the party are very popular with a large class of Albanians. They are genuine gypsies and will "swap" anything from a jackknife to a horse, but they are classed as honorable in their dealings. Both are fine types of gypsy manhood, with bronzed complexions and erect forms. This band had traveled all over the world and has at last become almost domesticated. It was their custom in the North to travel in summer and live in a city house during the winter. A few years since they passed the cold months of several winters in houses in the western part of the city. Last spring the band appeared at the corner of the boulevard and Washington avenue. Complaint was made against them, but nothing wrongful in their actions or business could be discovered and so the band was permitted to remain a certain length of time. Before this expired they bought the plot of ground on which they were encamped and remained on it all last summer. In the winter they went to their farm house near the Shakers, only to return to their camp here as soon as the weather would permit this spring.

The site of the camp is very sandy. The wagons of the family stand about in much the same order, or disorder, that those of a circus do. Horses of different kinds were tied to saplings, and dogs of many breeds lay curled at the end of chains under wagons against fences and in holes scooped out of the sand yesterday. The men busied themselves mending harness, doing chores, or in conversation, while the women in frocks and aprons of high hues lugged firewood, told fortunes and smoked their pipes. The women remained within their tents, save when some duty called them forth.

The tents were not in keeping with the wagons of the band. They were old and grimy and sadly patched. The canvas of which they were composed had seen its best days. From the rear of the tents through the canvas protruded common iron stovepipe, from which smoke curled. Two of these pipes had a joint upward above the elbow, the other was content to end with the elbow. The cooking is done on small wood stoves, and these pipes were attached to them. Within the tents everything looked clean, and was in striking contrast with things about the exteriors. The wagons used as sleeping apartments were nearly new and of excellent make. The box above the wheels extended over them, giving additional space enough within for a grown person to lie crosswise of the wagon. The interior of one of these wagons resembles a state room on a steamboat. The bunk was divided from the dressing part with lace curtains and lambrequins, and at the small windows in the three closed sides hung lace curtains caught back gracefully. The interior of these wagons, which are the sleeping quarters, are the pink of cleanliness and had an inviting appearance.

Image:
Gypsy Encampment - Glenwood Road (Bethesda, Maryland, 1888), Library of Congress

Previously: Gypsy Camps were known in Bath-on-the-Hudson and all around the Capital region.

Gypsy Camps

North End legend says there was a gypsy camp on Washington Ave. in Rensselaer. Did we have had actual gypsies in New York? Akum Norder at All Over Albany found another site at an old schoolhouse in Hoosick, where gypsies camped as recently as 1965. So who were they?

The Romani ethnic group originated on the Indian subcontinent, leaving perhaps a millennium ago, and moving into Europe in medieval times. Romanies began immigrating to America in the colonial era, and a large-scale migration of the Romnaichal from Britain to the U.S. started in the 1860's. New England Magazine, May 1904 said there was a record of gypsies in New York as far back as 1850.

Image: Tents of a Gypsy Camp in Brooklyn (Library of Congress)

The Albany Evening Journal (AEJ) mentioned the Greenbush encampment several times between 1888 and 1915, in the "Neighborhood News" from Bath:

July 10, 1893: The gypsy encampment drew an extraordinary large crowd to the Manor grounds yesterday. The principal attraction yesterday was the queen of the camp, who was telling fortunes to all who wished a glance into the "future", for "the small sum of 15 cents." This seemed too high for the crowd, and it was finally reduced to 10 cents and the camp did a thriving business till long after dark. The camp will "pull stakes" this afternoon and start en route for the World's Fair.

July 31, 1893: The town bore a more quiet appearance yesterday than in any other Sunday in some time. The fact was due to the disappearance of the band of gypsies who had been encamped on the Manor grounds. Fond parents may now know when their daughters are out of an evening, that they are not at the gypsy encampment paying for a "glance into the future."

Most AEJ articles were stereotypical accounts of a gypsy getting arrested, or giving someone a bad deal in a horse trade (i.e., Sept. 7, 1905: "Foolish Man Loses Horse" and July 26, 1910: "Ballston Spa Boy Dickers With Gypsies to his Sorrow"). But a sympathetic article in 1888 described a visit to the Stanley gypsy encampment at Manning Blvd. and Washington Ave. in Albany. (This article will get its own post next week: Inside Albany's Gypsy Camp.)

On Oct. 10, 1910, AEJ reported that a band of several thousand members of the Stanley tribe, enroute to their winter headquarters in New Jersey, stopped at a gypsy camp in Colonie. In June 1912, a man backed his touring car down a 10 foot embankment after visiting the camp on Washington Ave. in Albany. (The gypsies were unable to pull the car back up with a team of draft horses.) Other gypsy camps were noted at the junctions of Colvin and Central Ave. in Albany, and on the Albany Road in Schenectady.

On Aug. 13, 1915, the AEJ mentions a gypsy camp at Hulett farm at Defreestville. By this time the Forbes Manor was no longer vacant, as it was in the 1890's, and the former gypsy camp site on Forbes Ave. (now upper Washington Ave.) was being turned into residential building sites for the booming new City of Rensselaer.

The article Gypsy Americans by Evan Heimlich is a good historical overview. The Romani people have faced centuries of oppression including ethnic cleansing by the Nazis and deportation from many countries (as recently as 2010 in France). Efforts to address ongoing discrimination are in progress, and April 8 was the International Day of Roma.

Next: Inside Albany's Gypsy Camp

Crackers and Biscuits

Nice find by Carl - jump over to Hoxsie! and check out the (1860's?) ad for Greenbush Steam Cracker and Biscuit Manufactory.

So what were all those mysterious crackers? The Complete Bread, Cake, and Cracker Baker, J. Thompson Gill, 1881, devotes a full page just to the confusion between crackers and biscuits, before moving on to crumpets and jumbles.

For some more insight into Greenbush in this era, check out this Troy Record article from October 21, 2010: "You could look it up back in 1868".

The Bath (On The Hudson)

This story was inspired by a reader inquiry, and the book "Three Villages, One City" by Douglas L. Sinclair. (It's out of print, read it at the E. Greenbush or Troy libraries.)

The mineral spring that gave Bath its name was near the intersection of Tracy St. and Forbes Ave. today. The 1876 Beers Map shows "Mineral Street" there, named for the mineral spring. The story is that in 1790 Elkanah Watson proposed the idea of the Bath to Patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer III. (A year later, Watson proposed the Erie Canal, which was a bit more successful than the bath house.)

Watson had traveled to the spas at Bath in England, and was "filled with delight" at their magnificence. In comparison, he found the scene at Saratoga in 1790 to be "enveloped in rudeness and seclusion, with no accommodations appropriate to civilized man".

The American Universal Geography, by Jedidiah Morse, 1793

In the new town of Rensselaer, nearly opposite the city of Albany, a medicinal spring has lately been discovered, combining most of the valuable properties of the celebrated waters of Saratoga. Should further experiments confirm the favorable opinion already entertained of this spring, it will prove a fortunate discovery for the city of Albany and for the country adjoining, as well as for the invalids who annually resort to Saratoga, under many inconveniences and at great expense.

The American Gazetteer, by Jedidiah Morse, 1797

Bath, a village in the co. of Rensselaer, New-York, pleasantly situated on the east bank of Hudson river,... A mineral spring has been discovered here, said to possess valuable qualities; and a commodious bathing-house has been erected, at a considerable expense, containing hot, cold, and shower baths.

History of the Towns of Rensselaer County:, A. J. Weise, 1880

Before the close of the last century the wonderful efficacy of the waters of several mineral springs at Bath had made the little hamlet somewhat conspicuous as a place of cure. John Maude, an English traveler, visiting places of note in the United States, in 1800, thus speaks of its notoriety, in his journal... "Crossed the river to Bath, a town lately laid out by the patroon; it at present consists of about thirty houses... The medicinal springs and the baths, at one time so much vaunted, are now shut up and neglected ; yet, as a watering place, it was to have rivaled Ballstown..."

The bath house built on the Hudson was very innovative for the 1790's - it had plumbing, unlike the other mineral springs in the region (in Ballston, you sat in a wooden barrel sunk into the mud). I'm not sure why the bath house was already abandoned by 1800. Three Villages speculates the Patroon's lease terms may have dampened the commercial potential of the enterprise.

Plank Road Directors, 1849

Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road Co. Founding Directors

• Erastus Corning, Owner of Erastus Corning & Co. Hardware and the Albany Nail Works; formerly Mayor of Albany and state senator
• David V.N. Radcliffe, Lawyer living in Albany
• Samuel S. Fowler, Vice-president of Albany Mechanics' and Farmers Bank
• Richard J. Knowlson, Lumber merchant, former owner of Rensselaer glass factory of Sand Lake
• Gideon Butts, Lumber pioneer, Sand Lake
• Evert Van Alen, Surveyor of Van Rensselaer manor, of the Van Alen farming family of Defreestville, lived in Greenbush
• John Defreest, Farmer, of Defreestville
• James Dearstyne, possibly Dearstyne & Godfrey groceries, on Broadway in Greenbush
• Dewitt De Forest, Farmer, DeFreestville
• George Cipperly, Farmer, leased the Patroon’s water rights on the Wynants Kill at Glass Lake, owned sawmill and glass factory
• Wynant Younghans, Farmer, Sand Lake

List from “AN ACT to allow the president and director of the eastern turnpike to sell a part or all of their road, and to form a plank road from Albany to Sand Lake...”; (Laws of the State of New York, Seventy Second Session, Chap. 322, April 10, 1849) [Biographical info. is from internet searches, rather than any specific documentation.]

A different list of directors was elected at the first shareholder meeting in Sept. 1849: Richard J. Knowlton, Gideon Butts, and Samuel R. Fox of the town of Sandlake, Dewitt C. Deforest and James Dearstyne of the town of Greenbush, John V.L. Pruyn, William Smith, Stephen B. Gregory, and Archibald McClure of the city of Albany.

Here is an interesting article about the industrial enterprises of Sand Lake, etc.:"Geographic Integration of Industry on the Wynants Kill, 1816-1911", by Robert Dalton Harris and Diane DeBlois, in Business and Economic History On-Line.

Image from
Joseph H. Hidley's
painting of Glass Lake

Previously: The Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road; Anatomy of a Plank Road; The Tollgates and the Shunpike Road

The Toll Gates and the Shunpike Road

The Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road had four toll gates, described in this article from the Albany Evening Journal, May 25, 1901:

The committee on toll gates from the Rensselaer Board of Supervisors has begun its inquiry into the proceedings to abolish the toll roads.... Arthur Peck, director and secretary, said there were four toll gates, one at Bath, a second three miles out, a third at Sand Lake and a fourth at Crooked Lake. He said that the road had not paid a dividend in the last 11 years, though the net receipts for the last 11 years were $2,262.39....

The first toll gate was just beyond Ninth St. at the Bath village limits, near today's I-90 ramp. (See the entire map here: F.W. Beers & Co., Bath, 1876.)


The second toll gate was opposite Robert C. Parker school. Folks who wanted to avoid that toll took the "Shunpike road" instead (now Mammoth Springs Road, Morner Road and Best Road), rejoining the Plank road at Defreestville. (See F.W. Beers & Co., North Greenbush, 1876)

The third toll gate was at the intersection of Tollgate Rd and Rt. 43 beyond West Sand Lake. The last tollgate was just north of the Crooked Lake House. (See F.W. Beers & Co., Sand Lake 002, 1876)

Previously: The Albany and Sand Lake Plank Road; Anatomy of a Plank Road
Next: Plank Road Directors

Historical newspaper pages found at FultonHistory.com.