Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 114

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations > Part 114

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The act of the Legislature passed April 14, 1836, authorized the Corporation of the City of Albany to make an opening in the pier between the Columbia and State street bridges of sixty feet in width, which had already been decided upon as necessary by an ordinance of the Common Council, dated the 28th of March previous, and to repair any damage to bridges or property on the pier caused by said opening, and assess the costs of the same on the property benefited. In 1837, owing to the great increase of business on the pier, the Pier Company asked the Common Council for authority to widen the pier fifteen feet; their petition was denied. The act passed May 16, 1837, directed the Canal Commissioners to clear the obstructions from the basin, and draw upon the Mayor and Common Council for the cost, and allow the ex- cess above the amount of toll on the one mile of basin, which was considered as part of the canal, to be charged to the State.

The dredging proceeded so slowly, that the Com- mon Council directed the Navigation Committee

to inquire into the cause and report what had been and what remained to be done. On the 17th September, 1838, the Navigation Committee re- ported that $96,090.55 had been expended in im- proving the basin; that there yet remained 105, 000 cubic yards of excavation to be made, which would cost $36, 250.

Another act of the Legislature, passed April 20, 1841, directed the Common Council to cause the opening in the pier to be enlarged to a width of not less than 126 feet, the expense of said opening to be assessed upon the property benefited; and by an act passed April 14, 1849, they were em- powered to make a further enlargement. These enlargements were rendered necessary by the in- creasing demands of commerce, and the enlarged size of the vessels used in transportation on the river.

After the works were completed, the Commis- sioners assessed the cost upon the property ben- efited, as directed by the several laws passed by the Legislature. This proceeding raised a great com- motion among the dock and pier owners, which resulted in a controversy as to the constitutionality of the law under which the work was done. The Legislature passed an act on the 14th April, 1849, " in relation to certain expenses incurred in ex- cavating the basin, and the tolls received thereon, at the eastern terminus of the Erie and Champlain Canals." This law directs the Canal Commissioners to pay to the City of Albany $121,462.63, with in- terest from February 20, 1823, for the expenses incurred by the city for excavating, clearing and cleaning out the basin, and also the sum of $30,000 to be paid to the owners of the pier in lieu of tolls as heretofore paid to them. This act to be a final settlement of all claims against the State in favor of the City of Albany, or in favor of any citizen there- of, and also of the pier-owners under the several acts passed April 5, 1823, April 27, 1835, April 14, 1836, and May 16, 1837.

At this time, and until the War of the Rebellion, the property on the pier was very valuable. The portion above the Columbia street bridge was covered with lumber and staves, piled very high for want of room, while below the bridge, on both sides of the cut to its southern extremity were large and commodiously built warehouses, occu- pied by the leading shipping merchants of the city and the proprietors of the large tow-boat lines. The Swiftsure and Albany and Canal lines each had offices below the State street bridge, and their barges occupied berths on both the inside and out- side of the pier.

Hart & Hoyt, in order to facilitate the transporta- tion of the merchandise they received, erected on a raft or float in the basin, a large wooden structure, familiarly called the "Ark," which took up much room and was a great annoyance to the other shippers, beside being an eye-sore and great obstruction to the free navigation of the basin. It became so much of a nuisance that the Common Council ordered them to remove it. They declin- ing to do so, the Corporation undertook to make the removal themselves, but were enjoined by the Court from proceeding with its demolition. The

502

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

case was carried to the Court of Chancery, and by the Chancellor the injunction was dissolved. Hart & Hoyt appealed to the Court of Errors. It was held by this Court that the appellants had utterly failed to establish a right to erect and continue the floating warehouse in the basin; that it was not lawful for individuals, without grants, to construct or moor a floating warehouse or vessel for receiving and delivering any goods in any river-port or har- bor, or in the basins or docks thereof, and is an obstruction to free navigation.

The "Ark " was therefore removed, and the busi- ness on the pier and in the basin was thereafter unob- structed. At this time, beside the large barges em- ployed in the carrying trade to New York, all sorts of craft came to Albany for freight, from a clam- boat to a three-masted schooner. Frequently, more than two hundred sailing vessels might be counted at the pier and docks of the city, hailing from Maine to Florida. From the East were brought sperm and whale oil, rum, fish, apples, and Yankee notions; from the South, Georgia pine, cotton, sugar, and fruit; and lumber, staves, potatoes, and the various kinds of grain were taken away. These days and years of an active and profitable trade came to an end on the pier, docks and basin, on the completion of the system of railroad communication from Boston and New York to the Western States, and the opening of the lumber district between the river and canal a short distance above the Bath ferry.

Soon after the completion of the canal, a line of packet-boats was established to transport passengers from Albany to Utica. This was a wonderful im- provement over the old stage-coach at certain seasons of the year, when the wheels would sink to the hubs in the mud, and the passengers would often be called upon to help, with a fence-rail, to pry them up. The packets were sharp-bowed, trim-looking boats, drawn by three horses on a trot, and averaged about nine miles an hour, some- times more. The cabin extended almost the en- tire length of the boat, with a short deck at the bow and stern; the seats were arranged like those in an omnibus, and so constructed that they could be converted into two tiers of berths. A curtain di- vided one cabin into two unequal parts, the smaller reserved for the ladies. The baggage was all car- ried on the deck above the cabin. The choice seat in the daytime was on the forward low deck. It was dangerous to sit on the deck above the cabin, on account of the lowness of the numerous bridges. The helmsman was constantly warning those passengers who sat there by the cry of " bridge ahead," when each one would be obliged to duck, or if the bridge was very low, to lie down flat. These packets left Albany from the little basin just at the head of the lock, between the canal and the Al- bany basin, with flags flying, bugle music, and shouts of the people collected to see the start. There were soon opposition companies, which made lively times, and packet-boats became the fashionable mode of travel between Albany and Buffalo. These too were abandoned as fast as the railroads were opened to the West.

On February 13, 1861, there occurred one of the most disastrous freshets ever known to the in- inhabitants of Albany. The ice damming up oppo- site the Boston ferry, cansed the water to flow over the pier, and sent the current down through the basin, carrying large cakes of ice with great velocity against the boats, vessels and bridges in the basin, which were swept down and destroyed in a brief space of time.

April 8, 1861, the three bridges from the main- land to the pier having been carried away by the freshet and destroyed, a controversy arose between the Pier Company and the Common Council as to which should construct the new ones.

The Pier Company claimed that by the Act of April 14, 1836, authorizing the Corporation of Al- bany to make an opening in the pier between the State street and Columbia street bridges of 60 feet in width, and to repair any damages to bridges or property on the pier by reason of said opening, and assess the expense of the same upon the prop- erty benefited; and by the act of the Legislature, passed April 20, 1841, directing the Corporation to enlarge the opening to the width of not less than 126 feet; and by a further act, passed April II, 1849, the said Corporation was authorized to make a still further enlargement; that the rebuilding of the bridge clearly devolved upon the city, and asked that they be rebuilt without delay.

The bridges were rebuilt without draws, as the opening between Columbia and State streets ad- mitted vessels to the middle basin.

The building of the pier caused great dissatisfac- tion to the owners of the dock and property on Quay street. It deprived them of their right to the channel of the river, decreased the amount of their dockage and the value of the property on Quay street, by affording wharfage on the outside of the pier, and space for building upon it. The vener- able and distinguished jurist, Abraham Van Vech- ten, whose memory is revered by the few now left who knew him, could not accept the appointment as one of the Commissioners named in the act of 1823, because he believed the act to be not only unjust to the dock-owners, but decidedly uncon- stitutional. But opposition was of no avail. The same means that are supposed to be successful in carrying bills through later Legislatures, may have been successfully used in 1823, and possibly were so used to pass this act.

In 1873, when the Dock Association adjourned sine die, active business on the pier and Quay street had about come to a standstill; buildings which had formerly rented for seven or eight hundred dol- lars per annum, would scarcely command three or four hundred, and many remained unoccupied. Storage of produce brought down by canal-boats too late in the fall to ship for New York or Eastern or Southern ports by vessels, was a large item of profit which was cut off by the transportation af- forded by the completion of the Central and Hud- son River and the Boston and Albany Railroads. The merchants who did a heavy business on the pier or Quay street, either retired from business or removed to Broadway, where they escaped the an-

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SEWERAGE.

nual freshets in the river, and obtained more com- fortable quarters.

The wharfage which had been collected pretty equally from the various docks under the control of the Dock Association, was now earned by but few of them, and a majority of the members were unwilling to continue to divide the receipts with those whose docks contributed little or nothing to the Association. Hence the resolution to adjourn sine die.

Since 1873, the basin has been filling up with silt from the river and sewage from the fifteen city sewers that empty their foul contents into it; and it has become one of the greatest nuisances in the county. It is hoped that it will either be dredged ou tby the State authorities or filled up, as it has passed its days of usefulness.

SEWERAGE.

Prior to 1854, and previous to the appointment of R. H. Bingham as City Engineer and Surveyor, there was no regular system of sewers for the city. In that year the first brick and cement sewer was constructed in Madison avenue, then Lydius street. Laws had been passed for making drains in detached portions. Some had been made in several streets leading to the river, east of Eagle street. Some had been laid as early as 1800. These last were constructed of common building stones about one foot in the clear.

It appears from the records of the Common Council, that attention was given very early to sur- face draining. Water-courses were dug on the side of the streets, under direction of the City govern- ment, by the owners of adjacent houses or lots, which were to be kept open and clear so as "to vent, dry and drain the said streets." In 1721, it was "ordaind, publishd and declard, that all and every person within this City before whose houses and lotts ye water has no vent, shall forthwith ditch and drain ye water to give it passage that ye highways may be dry and useful for ye Inhabitants of sª City, and that all ye Streets and lanes be sufficiently pavd, ye earth be dugg out and Carted away" under penalties for neglect. Such was the primitive drainage. Subsequent to this time, ordi- nances directing the making of drains and keeping them open were often made. Sometimes they were made to empty into creeks or kills. But, after all, the streets of the city were often very full of mire and filth.

Since 1854, in the leading streets to the river, the old drains have been replaced with brick and cement sewers varying in diameter from three and a half to six and a half feet in the clear.

The combined system of sewerage, conveying both house drainage and surface water, required larger sewers than the surface system which conveys only the house drainage.

The combined system became necessary in con- sequence of the slope and steepness of the streets leading to the river. In the westerly portion of the city the separate system has been adopted, vitrified pipes have been used varying from ten to thirty

inches in diameter, according to the quantity of house drainage to be carried. Most of the thickly settled streets have been sewered.

The old creek beds of the city leading to the river-four in number-have been covered with stone arches from six to ten feet in diameter, and adopted as outlet sewers for the westerly portion of the city, into which many of the street drains empty.

The creeks thus adopted as outlet sewers, are as follows: Beaver Creek, in the southerly portion of the city; Ruttenkill and Foxenkill in the cen- tral portion of the city; and Patroon's Creek in the northerly.

The extent of the water-shed flowing into Beaver Creek is about 1, 300 acres; Ruttenkill, about 200 acres; Foxenkill, about 200 acres; Patroon's Creek, about 5,000 acres.

Space will not permit us to give any more than the leading or principal sewers in the city. That in Madison avenue is 4 feet in diameter; Hamilton street, 3 feet 6 inches; Hudson avenue, 5 feet; State street, 6 feet; Quackenbush street, 5 feet; Livingston avenue, 4 feet 6 inches; Maiden lane, 4 feet; Steuben street, 4 feet; Van Woert, 4 feet. Patroon's Creek sewer is 12 x 8 feet in diameter; Foxenkill, 6 feet; Ruttenkill, 6 feet; Beaver Creek, 8 feet. In the other streets in the city the sewers run from 4 feet to 18 inches in diameter.

The expense of the construction of the street sewers in Albany are paid by levying special assess- ments upon the property benefited by it and lying adjacent to it. Many of these sewers have been constructed at large expense. For instance: Hud- son avenue sewer, from the river to Eagle street, cost $20, 150; State street, from river to Eagle street, $21, 289; Patroon street, from the river to North Pearl street, $48,718.

The cost of these sewers are $9 per lineal foot for 6 feet; $61, for 42 feet; $64, for 4 feet; $52, for 3₺ feet; $54, for 3 feet; and $48, for 2} feet. These are laid about 123 feet below the surface, to accommodate house drainage.

Vitrified-pipe drains are laid about 9} feet from the surface. For 20 inches in diameter they cost $2 per lineal foot; 18 inches, $1.60 per foot; 15 inches, $1 per foot; 12 inches, $1.00 per foot.

The system of collecting assessments for the con- struction of the sewers, relieves the citizens from a bonded debt for their construction to which many other cities are subjected.

This system of sewers already constructed extends north and south, along the river front, the entire width of the city-about two miles; and westerly, about the same distance.

R. H. BINGHAM, the present able City Engineer and Surveyor, has for thirty years uninterruptedly, and with credit and fidelity, held the position, a just tribute to his sterling worth and ability. He is a native of Stillwater, Saratoga County, and was educated at the Academy in that town, and sub- sequently at the Normal School in Albany, where he graduated in 1845. He was for five years Pro- fessor of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Jonesville Academy; was admitted to the Bar in

504

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

Albany County in 1848, and practiced his profes- sion with decided success until 1854. His natural ability in the direction of engineering inclined him to the study of that science in every detail. In 1855, he planned the first brick and cement sewer constructed in Albany, his plan being ap- proved by the municipal authorities. From 1868 to 1872 he was interested in the construction of the Park, being engineer in charge. The granite block pavement was first laid under his direction in 1868. He was appointed Assistant Engineer on the Rochester and Buffalo Division of the Erie Canal in 1840, and for two years was engaged in the work of its enlargement. In 1854 he was called to the position he now so ably fills. A thorough master

of his profession, and a man of ripe experience and expanded views, he has, in his official capacity, contributed his full share to the prosperity of the city, and has honored the position which he has so long filled.

STREETS OF ALBANY.

The first traders at Albany clustered around Fort Orange, near the foot of Lydius street. For two reasons this fort was changed to higher ground farther north along the present Broadway: first, to avoid high water, which in 1656 washed away a great part of Fort Orange, and secondly, to give space around the fort for free range of the guns.

Peaulot

80 VOET

CORPS DE GARDE

POERT

JONCAER STRAET

HUYSEN

BRUG Z

HUYSEN

RIVER

PLAN OF ALBANY, 1676.

The simple diagram above is a fac-simile of the oldest plan of the city known, and gives an idea of Beverwyck in 1676, after the fort had been removed from its original location. It embraces that part of the city now bourided by the river on the east and Steuben street on the north. But two streets are designated on the map, Joncaer street, now State, and Rom street, now Maiden lane. Broadway is represented by parallel lines. The earliest name given to it was Handlaer street, as appears on a map made some years later. The guard-house occupied the old Elm tree corner on North Pearl street. It will be seen that the settle- ment extended only a short distance beyond North Pearl street on the west, while its northern bound- ary was Steuben street, and its southern Hudson street.

The following map of Albany was made in 1695 by Rev. John Miller, a chaplain in the British Army, and shows the line of palisades built

soon after the removal from the vicinity of old Fort Orange about 1656. It is undoubtedly a true picture of the form, boundaries and streets of the city as they were about two hundred years ago, reaching from Hudson to Steuben streets on Broad- way, and from the river west to Lodge street, in circumference about six furlongs. The fort desig- nated on this map was known as Fort Albany, and was built after the surrender of the province to the English in 1664, at the head of old State street, west of the present Lodge street. Fort Orange, soon after the completion of the new fort, was abandoned, and the land around it divided up into gardens. The dwellings were mostly located, for safety, within the palisades. The church at the junction of State and Broadway was built in 1664, after the one near Fort Orange had been aban- doned. This church was used until 1715, when another was erected on the same site. This church in the middle of State street caused the great width

ROM STRAET

STREETS OF ALBANY.

505

of both State street and Broadway at this point. Broadway, as will be seen by reference to the map, as it approached the north gate and main guard was reduced to a single cart path, and in fact

at the palisades the houses on opposite sides of the street came so close together as to form a Fuyck, a name very often applied to the village instead of Beverwyck.

PEARL STREET.

JONKERS STREET

10 (

Broadway

20 100

PLAN OF ALBANY, 1695.

I. The Fort. 2. Dutch Calvinist Church.

3. German Lutheran.

4. Its Burying Place. 5. Dutch Calvinist Burying Place. 6. Stadt House.

7. Block Houses.

9. Great Guns to clear a Gully. ro. Stockades.

II. City Gates, six in all.

At the date of this map there were about 200 houses in Beverwyck, built principally on four streets, viz. : Broadway, from Hudson to Steuben; State, from Broadway to Chapel; North Pearl, to Steuben; and Chapel, from State to the palisades. Beaver, Norton, State, from Broadway to the river, called Staat's alley; Exchange and Steuben, which extended only from Broadway to North Pearl, con- tained but a few dwellings. Hudson, from Broad- way to Green, simply the rondwegh, and James street, a mere alley, had no dwellings. Lots front- ing on any street west of Broadway, the highest being Berg, now Chapel, street, were said to be on the hill. The contracted space within which the village was crowded led to a very minute di- vision of land in the best streets, and lots of only 15 or 20 feet wide and of a corresponding depth were common.

Chevalier De Calliers, Governor of Montreal in 1689, speaks of Albany as being "about as large as Montreal, surrounded by picquets, at one

end of which is an earthen fort defended by pali- sades, and consisting of four small bastions. There is a garrison of 150 men, of three companies, in the Fort and some pieces of cannon. Said town of Orange [Albany] may contain about 150 houses and 300 inhabitants, the majority of whom are Dutch, and some French refugees, with some English."

By observing the septangular form of the pali- sades, we can see how the curvatures and diagonal lines presented by many of the streets in the lower portion of our city had their rise. A more ex- tended line of palisades was afterwards constructed, bounded by Hamilton street on the south and crossing Broadway on the north, near Orange and Van Tromp streets. The north gate was placed there, and was the line, as late as the early part of the present century, dividing the City of Albany from Colonie, which was a separate town until 1815. It was a century after Miller's draft of the city was made before it began to increase very rapidly in territory or population. In 1688, it con-

HANDLERS STREET(

506

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

tained but 300 persons, and a century after only about 4,000.

So little had the City of Albany changed from its appearance in 1695, that in 1718 it was described by a tourist as little else than a fortified village, with unpaved, dirty and irregular streets. Most of the residences were situated on the margin of the river, the lower end of State, and on Court, now called Broadway. It was in fact only a small town, with less than 1,000 inhabitants. A few stores and trading places were located in the pres- ent Chapel street. In the middle of State street and in Broadway were all the public buildings, viz. : the Town House, two churches, English and Dutch, the Guard-house and Public Market. On the river were three docks: Lower or King's Dock, Middle and Upper. Here vessels were unloaded by the aid of canoes.

Probably the best description of primitive Albany is contained in Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs of an American Lady," published in 1764, in which she says: "The City of Albany stretched along the banks of the Hudson. One very wide and broad street lay parallel to the river, the intermediate space between it and the shore being occupied by gardens. A small but steep hill rose above the cen- ter of the town, on which stood a fort, intended (but very ill adapted) for the defense of the place and of the neighboring country. From the foot of this hill another street was built, sloping pretty rapidly down till it joined the one before men- tioned, that ran along the river. This street was still wider than the other. It was only paved on each side, the middle being occupied by public ed- ifices. These consisted of a Market-place or Guard- house, a Town Hall, and the English and Dutch Churches. The English Church, belonging to the Episcopal persuasion, and in the diocese of the Bishop of London, stood at the foot of the hill at the upper end of the street. The Dutch Church was situated at the bottom of the descent, where the street terminated. Two irregular streets, not so broad, but equally long, ran parallel to those, and a few even ones opened between them. The town, in proportion to its population, occupied a great space of ground. The city, in short, was a kind of semi-rural establishment. Every house had its gar- den, well, and a little green behind. Before every door a tree was planted, rendered interesting by being coeval with some beloved member of the fam- ily. Many of these trees were of prodigious size and extraordinary beauty, but without regularity, every one planting the kind that best pleased him, or which he thought would afford the most agree- able shade to the open portico at his door, which was surrounded by seats and ascended by a few steps. It was in these that each domestic group was seated in summer evenings to enjoy the balmy twilight or the serenely clear moonlight." Such is a picture of ancient Albany as it appeared seventy-six years after it had become a city; a period when it had all the appearance of a quiet, staid village, with unpaved, grass-grown streets, and all the rural simplicity of many a town now in the interior of the State,

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 114

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452