The Van Rensselaer manor-house, built in 1765, was pulled down in 1893 and reconstructed on the campus of Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., where it forms the Sigma Phi fraternity house. In the Albany Academy, built in 1813 by Philip Hooker, architect of the old State Capitol, Prof. Joseph Henry demonstrated (1831) the theory of the magnetic telegraph by ringing an electric bell at the end of a mile of wire strung around the room. Bret Harte, the writer, was born in 1839 in Albany, where his father was teacher of Greek in the Albany College, a small seminary.
Bret Harte lived in Albany until his 17th year. In 1896, lured by the gold rush, he left for California with his mother, then a widow. Once there, the rough but fascinating chaos engulfed him, and from it, at first hand, he drew the stage properties—Spaniards, Greasers, gambling houses—the humor, sin and chivalry of the '49—which color all his stories. After some little journalism and clerking, he was made secretary to the Supt. of the Mint, a position which was not too exacting to allow a great deal of leisure for writing. Later he returned to the East with his family, made his home in N.Y.C. and gave all his time to authorship. Apparently his success somewhat turned his head. He lived beyond his means, passing his summers at Newport, Lenox and other expensive places, until his unbusinesslike habits and chronic indebtedness became notorious. In 1878 he accepted a consulate at Crefeld, Prussia. He spent the rest of his life abroad and died in England in 1902.
Modern buildings of interest include the City Hall,* a beautiful French Gothic building; the State Educational Building, with its valuable library; the Albany Institute, with its art galleries; the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built of brownstone, with spires 210 ft. high; the Cathedral of All Saints, a fine specimen of Gothic architecture, said to be the first regularly organized Protestant Episcopal cathedral erected in the United States (1883), St. Peter's Church, and, most important, the State Capitol.*
The First Passenger Train in N.Y. State Leaving Schenectady for Albany, July 30, 1831
On its first trip this train, now preserved on the right balcony of the Grand Central Terminal, attained a speed of nine miles an hour. The route between Albany and Schenectady was practically identical with that of the present New York Central lines.
The Capitol occupies a commanding position in Capitol Square. It is built of white Maine granite, and cost about $25,000,000. Millions were spent in alteration and reconstruction, due to the use of inferior materials and to mistakes in engineering design. The cornerstone was laid 1871, and the building was completed, with the exception of the central tower, in 1904. The legislature first met here in 1879. The original designs were by Thomas Fuller, who also designed the parliamentary building at Ottawa, but they were considerably altered. The beautiful Western staircase of red sandstone (from plans by Isaac Gale Perry) and the senate chamber (designed by H. H. Richardson) are the most striking features of the building. The present capitol suffered a heavy loss in the burning of its library in 1911, by which many unreplaceable books and original documents were destroyed.
The city has 11 parks, comprising 402 acres; the most notable is Washington Park, which contains two well known statues—one of Robert Burns, by Charles Caverley, and the bronze and rock fountain, "Moses at the Rock of Horeb," by J. Massey Rhind. The city's filtration system is of special interest to engineers; it occupies 20 acres, has eight filter beds, and filters 15,000,000 gallons of water daily.
Albany's key position with respect to New York, Boston and Buffalo ensured its commercial development. The first passenger railroad in America was operated between Albany and Schenectady.
The first train in the state, consisting of the locomotive "De Witt Clinton," named for the seventh governor, and three coaches (resembling early stage coaches), was built for the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad Co., the original unit of the present New York Central Lines, and was chartered in 1826 to run from Albany to Schenectady—a distance of 16 M. The locomotive was constructed at the West Point foundry and taken to Albany by boat. It had its first trial on rails, July 30, 1831, burning anthracite coal and attaining a speed of 7 M. an hour. After remodeling, it made the trip from Albany to Schenectady in one hour and 45 minutes, using pine wood for fuel. On Aug. 9, 1831, two trips were made, during which a speed of 30 M. an hour was reached. The train ran on iron "straps" nailed to wooden "stringers." As originally built the locomotive weighed 6,758 pounds, which, in remodeling, was increased to 9,420 pounds—less than the weight of one pair of wheels of a modern locomotive. At a banquet on the occasion of the formal opening of the line (Aug. 13, 1831), President Camberling of the railroad gave the following toast: "The Buffalo Railroad! May we soon breakfast at Utica, dine at Rochester, and sup with our friends on Lake Erie." The original train is still preserved and may be seen in the right balcony of the Grand Central Station, N.Y.C.