The Arbor Hill Historic District–Ten Broeck Triangle, originally the Ten Broeck Historic District, is a seven-

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

area located within the Arbor Hill neighborhood north of what is today

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Albany, New York, United States. In 1979 its easternmost third, the Ten Broeck Triangle, the second oldest residential neighborhood in the city, was recognized as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Four years later, the district was increased to its current size and renamed to reflect its expansion to include some of the rest of Arbor Hill. The future district was first established by its oldest

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

, the

Ten Broeck Mansion The Ten Broeck Mansion in Albany, New York was built in 1797. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. A decade later it was included as a contributing property to the Arbor Hill Historic District–Ten Broeck Triangl ...

, built at the end of the 18th century by a prominent local family. It lent its name to the Ten Broeck Triangle, established in the middle of the following century when successful businessmen, primarily lumber dealers, built large houses along Ten Broeck Avenue with the fortunes they had made from trade on the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

. It was one of the first neighborhoods to develop north of the city's downtown as it grew during the 19th century. Its fortunes began to slip as the city expanded westward to new neighborhoods like Washington Park which attracted the city's affluent. As the 20th century began, it gradually became a more middle-class neighborhood, then, after the Great Migration, predominantly

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. As an effective racial

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

, the neighborhood and its historic buildings suffered the effects of disinvestment and decline. The designation of the historic district, and other efforts by

preservationists Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation us ...

later in the century, have begun to reverse that trend. In the late 2010s Albany mayor

Kathy Sheehan Katherine M. Sheehan (born December 5, 1963) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 75th List of mayors of Albany, New York, Mayor of Albany, New York. Prior to being elected Mayor, Sheehan served as City Treasurer from 2010 to 201 ...

and her husband bought and rehabilitated one of the district's vacant townhouses to make their home. Over 200 buildings, mostly a mix of

rowhouse In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

s and detached houses built between the 1840s and 1870s, are listed as

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. The largest, the Ten Broeck Mansion, is also the only property in the district listed on the Register individually. The district also includes two churches, including St. Joseph's Church, reflecting a later popularity with immigrants.

Geography

The district occupies the southeastern portion of Albany's Arbor Hill neighborhood. Its southern corner is Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church at the junction of Ten Broeck Street and Clinton Avenue (part of

U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, between ...

), a

west of the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

and across from Albany's Family Court building. The district's boundary, at that point also the eastern boundary of the Broadway portion of the Clinton Avenue Historic District follows the rear

lot Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to: Common meanings Areas * Land lot, an area of land * Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...

lines of all the houses on the east side of the street, past St. Joseph's Church and Van Rensselaer Park north to Livingston Avenue. There, the

, originally known as Arbor Hill, which later became the name for the district, occupies a large parcel at the intersection's southwest corner. The boundary then turns northwest along the south side of Livingston and follows it to North Swan Street, which it turns to follow south. A hundred feet (30 m) south of the intersection, it takes in the properties on the west side and continues to do so for the next three blocks. These include Bethany Baptist Church, St. Joseph's Youth Center and some commercial properties along the adjacent blocks and the public basketball courts at the Second Street intersection.

Arbor Hill Historic District-Ten Broeck Triangle map

Midway between First Street and Clinton the boundary turns southeast to follow the rear property line of the lots on First, again the boundary with the Clinton Avenue Historic District. This line becomes Ludlow Alley shortly before North Hawk Street. After a short southward jog to take in the two properties on that street north of Clinton, it returns to the alley and follows it back to Clinton at Ten Broeck. The irregular

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

within this boundary includes six large blocks covering . In addition to the streets already named, the entirety of St. Joseph's Terrace and Hall Place are within the district. It has 220

contributing resource In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

s, with only two non-contributing modern properties. One hundred of those properties are houses, primarily two- to three-story

wood frame Framing, in construction, is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure support and shape. Framing materials are usually wood, engineered wood, or structural steel. The alternative to framed construction is generally called ''mass wal ...

or brick structures built between the 1820s and the early 20th century. The remainder are either small commercial buildings or institutional structures such as the three churches in the district. Open space within the district is mostly planned, such as Van Rensselaer Park, the neighboring space around the church known as St. Joseph's park, and the large parcel at the district's northeast corner where the Ten Broeck Mansion and its gardens (and former

carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open f ...

) are located. There are a few vacant lots and parking lots. The expansion added North Swan Street Park and the basketball courts to the south. Mature trees are abundant throughout. Topographically the district rises almost a hundred feet (30 m) from its eastern and southern edges to level terrain along North Swan between Second and Third. This reflects the

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. one of the few remaining from when Albany was first settled as most were later partially filled in to facilitate development, now the neighborhood of Sheridan Hollow, which separates Arbor Hill and the district from

downtown Albany The Downtown Albany Historic District is a 19-block, area of Albany, New York, United States, centered on the junction of State ( New York State Route 5) and North and South Pearl streets ( New York State Route 32). It is the oldest settled area ...

. To the north of the district are newer housing projects built during the

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

projects of the 1960s and 1970s. On the west of North Swan are similar neighborhoods but with newer, less coherent architecture (One building near the district, the Stephen and Harriet Myers House, is listed on the Register). The Clinton Avenue Historic District on the south includes the city's densest concentration of 19th-century

s, mostly brick. To the east, downhill to North Pearl Street (

New York State Route 32 New York State Route 32 (NY 32) is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with f ...

), are neighborhoods of mixed older and newer buildings and vacant lots, slowly being redeveloped, closer to the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

History

The district has passed through several distinct historical periods. For a long time after Albany was established as a city, the district remained undeveloped and outside city limits, a place where the city might expand in the future. When it was developed, after

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, this was limited. After the

was built, the pace of development increased, requiring the removal of a cemetery. Most of the current stock of buildings date to the mid- and late 19th century when the district was one of Albany's most desirable addresses. Later, as the affluent moved to the suburbs in the early 20th century, it became

denser Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek language, Greek letter Rho (letter), rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' ca ...

, and in the 1920s came to be identified more with the city's growing African-American population. Due to that racial stigma, the neighborhood declined in status over the course of the 20th century. That trend began to reverse with the formation of community organizations in the 1970s and serious, ongoing efforts at

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

and restoration.

1686–1796: Prehistory

The settlement that became Albany was established by the Dutch in the early 17th century as

Fort Orange Fort Orange ( nl, Fort Oranje) was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city of Albany, New York developed at this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on nearb ...

. The development around it was known first as Wiltwyck, becoming Albany when the English assumed control of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

in 1667. It formally became a city with the grant of the

Dongan Charter The ''Dongan Charter'' is the 1686 document incorporating Albany, New York, as a city. Albany's charter was issued by Governor Thomas Dongan of the Province of New York, a few months after Governor Dongan issued a similarly worded, but less det ...

in 1686. Then, and for many years after, it was confined to the fort and the area around it enclosed by a

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...

, corresponding roughly to its present

. The prominent ridge beyond Sheridan Hollow to the north was first referred to as Arbor Hill during that period. The stockade era reflected the threat that still existed to the frontier town from the French, which ended with the 1763 defeat of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

. The next year, Stephen van Rensselaer II, the ''

patroon In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch ''patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms a ...

'' of his family's lands to the north of the city in what was then the town of Watervliet, including the future district, began having them surveyed. As the city could now safely expand, he had streets and building lots laid out in what came to be called Colonie, largely along the lines they were actually built. He designated the land that is now the park named after his family to be the burying ground for inhabitants of his Rensselaerwyck manor.

1797–1844: Early development

Development was delayed because of the Revolutionary War, but by the late 18th century some houses had been built in the area. Foremost among them was what is now known as the

, built by another landed descendant of Dutch settlers,

Abraham Ten Broeck Abraham Ten Broeck (May 13, 1734 – January 19, 1810) was a New York politician, businessman, and militia Brigadier General of Dutch descent. He was twice Mayor of Albany, New York and built one of the largest mansions in the area, the Ten ...

, after his previous house burned down. By 1797, when he and his wife Elizabeth built the brick

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

mansion on five acres (2 ha) that they leased from her brother,

Stephen van Rensselaer III Stephen Van Rensselaer III (; November 1, 1764January 26, 1839) was an American landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician. A graduate of Harvard College, at age 21, Van Rensselaer took control of Rensselaerswyck, his family's mano ...

, he had served as a delegate to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

in 1775, a general commanding New York's

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

at the

Battle of Saratoga The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...

and later Albany's mayor and a

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

. Ten Broeck named the mansion Prospect due to the commanding view it offered of the Hudson and its river traffic (some other accounts suggest he called it Arbor Hill from the beginning). He lived there until his death in 1810; Elizabeth survived him by three years. By that point a few other houses had likely been built nearby, but not enough to make the group a neighborhood, even after Colonie was

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by the city in 1815. The mansion was sold to new owners who, over the next three decades, refurbished and expanded it with elements of the similar

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

. The northward expansion of the city envisioned by the elder van Rensselaer finally came to pass after 1825, when the

was opened. Many new arrivals to the city, drawn by the canal and its economic opportunities, needed places to live and work. They looked north, along Broadway and North Pearl. Some found the mansion neighborhood and the blocks to its west to their liking, enough that

city directories A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. It may be arranged alphabetically or geographically or in other ways. Antedating telephone directories, they were i ...

of the period show a few residents and businessmen listing "Arbor Hill" as their address. During the 1830s, they built some of the first houses in the district after the mansion. A few from this period, such as 10 Ten Broeck Place and 31 Second Street, survive. Similarly, the

mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

Greek Revival buildings around the intersection of Second and South Swan were built in the early 1840s.

1845–1899: Intensive development

Intensive development of the neighborhood was the result of an 1845 change. The soil of the Rensselaerwyck cemetery was particularly sandy and loose. Since it sat on a slope above the streets, heavy rains would often wash away markers and expose the underlying coffins and remains. By the early 1840s, there were many calls to move the bodies elsewhere. One of the most vocal advocates for such a move, Joseph Hall, a gardener who lived on the section of Third now known as Ten Broeck Place, had Hall Street named for him when it was opened in 1849, four years after the cemetery was moved. View south down Ten Broeck Street, Albany, NY

View south down Ten Broeck Street, Albany, NY

While the former burying ground site was made into a park instead of being built on, construction on other parcels increased. The year the graves were moved, 41 Ten Broeck Street, the earliest dated house on that street after the mansion, was erected. The brick

s at 15–23 and 35–39 Ten Broeck followed. In 1848, the neighborhood regained some of its original prestige when Thomas Worth Olcott, a prominent banker, bought the Ten Broeck Mansion and formally renamed it Arbor Hill. He and his family expanded it over the next several years. The King Building, an elaborate Greek Revival duplex, was built over four years in the 1850s at 27–29 North Swan in front of the archway that provided access to the mansion's grounds on the rear. In the blocks to the west, newer clusters such as 53, 55 and 57 First Street joined the scattered houses that already existed. At 23 and 25 Second Street, two brick houses were built in the late 1840s. These show a common architectural transition for that era, with their basic Greek Revival forms being overlaid with

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

ornament. The Italianate style would become dominant in the 1850s, when a third of the hundred houses in the Ten Broeck Triangle, the eastern portion of the district, were built. North Hawk and Hall streets were built almost completely during this period. The rowhouses from 2–38 First Street went up between 1854 and 1862. In 1855 St. Joseph's Church was built on Ten Broeck between First and Second to serve the growing Irish immigrant population, which generally did not live in the district but near it, close to their jobs along the riverfront. It was designed by Brooklyn architect

Patrick Keely Patrick Charles Keely (August 9, 1816 — August 11, 1896) was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildin ...

, himself an Irish immigrant, who had previously designed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Eagle Street downtown. Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church, Albany, NY

Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church, Albany, NY

By 1870, much of the district had been developed. The lavish houses in particular that lined Ten Broeck Street gave it the nickname "Millionaire's Row." Many had been built by lumber merchants and overlooked the Lumber District, the yards down by the canal and river where they did their business. Another church, Sweet Pilgrim Baptist, was constructed in 1876 at the Clinton Avenue intersection, giving the district a distinctive southern gateway. At the north corner, the polygonal home at 105 Ten Broeck featured an iron

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

, a hallmark of the contemporary

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style. Some of the existing houses, such as 8 Hall Place, also had mansard roofs added when they were expanded with third stories. There was enough demand for housing in the Ten Broeck Triangle that a new street was added in the ensuing decade. St. Joseph's Terrace was laid out in 1881 and formally subdivided for building ten years later. The houses built there in the 1890s were similar in form to those that had been built in the previous decades, reflecting the area's continuing status as a desirable neighborhood, despite increasing competition from the newer Washington Park, completed in 1882, and the lack of service from the city's new

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

network. The neighborhood was home to Michael N. Nolan, an Irish immigrant who served as mayor and later, a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Architecturally, the new construction largely reflected contemporary trends. There were still a few late Italianate structures like 96 North Swan Street, built in 1885. But most new housing followed the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

of the late 19th century. The brick rectory with stone trim built by St. Joseph's in 1892 at 12 St. Joseph's Terrace is the district's most prominent example. At 51 and 51 First, a pair of brick houses built in 1885, the intricate detailing includes

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows. The Romanesque houses at 67 Ten Broeck Street and 3 and 5 St. Joseph's Terrace are clad in the style's more common rusticated

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

1900–1914: Increasing density

In the new century, the neighborhood's growth slowed down as it was nearly built out. A few new houses were built, mostly architecturally sympathetic to their surroundings but experimenting slightly with their materials, such as local architect William Lee Woollett's brick houses with marble trim at 43 and 45 Ten Broeck Street in 1900. At 66 First Street another brick and stone house went up, sympathetic with its much older neighbors. The affluent families that had lived in the Ten Broeck area began moving to the newer neighborhoods in the city's undeveloped western sections, which offered larger houses and larger lots in the newer suburban style of living. They rented the houses they left behind or sold them, with the result that many were subdivided into multiple units, making the Ten Broeck Triangle less exclusive than it had been for the previous 50 years. Former St Joseph's School, Albany, NY

This increase in

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

was reflected in the most significant construction of the 20th century's first decade. St. Joseph's had housed its school in various other buildings, but finally had to construct one for the purpose. The four-story brick edifice with stone trim completed in 1905 was the largest building in the western blocks of the future district. Back on Ten Broeck Street, the church itself got a new spire in 1910. The trend toward increasing density culminated in the construction of two apartment buildings, at 7–8 and 9–10 St. Joseph's Terrace, in 1914. Both brick with stone trim, one three stories and the other four, they were the first buildings in the neighborhood designed as multiple dwellings. Together with the nearby house at 3 St. Joseph's, a one-story brick building with marble trim and a Spanish-style

pantile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered roo ...

roof, built that same year, they are the latest-built

to the district.

1915–1974: Decline and disinvestment

During the Great Migration of the 1920s, many of the

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

who came north to Albany from the Southern states settled in Arbor Hill, an area that had been one of the first where their predecessors had settled in the city. It came to be regarded as more desirable among newcomers than their other destination, the South End. Residents of that neighborhood often moved to Arbor Hill after they had made some money. African Americans displaced by the construction of what is now the State Department of Education Building in 1912 also resettled in Arbor Hill. As early as 1922 many of the city's prominent African-American institutions and organizations, such as churches and

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

s, were located in Arbor Hill. This growth led to the name being applied to the larger area it presently refers to, extending north to the railroad tracks, west to Northern Boulevard (now Henry Johnson Boulevard) and south to Sheridan Avenue. In 1948 came the first suggestion that the neighborhood's future in the city lay with its own past. After a century of ownership, the descendants of James Olcott Worth formally transferred the Ten Broeck mansion from their family to the Albany County Historical Association. The ACHA began converting it into the

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

it is today; in 1971 it was listed on the National Register. The challenges the neighborhood faced in maintaining its historic properties were demonstrated later, in the 1960s. By that time the neighborhood, overwhelmingly African American, was considered one of the worst in Albany. Sweet Pilgrim's distinctive spire was removed, leaving St. Joseph's as the only church in the district with a presence in the city's skyline. Later in the decade,

efforts began to target Arbor Hill. The houses north of Livingston Avenue were demolished and replaced with the modern

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...

that is there now. Similar projects targeted the blocks west of North Swan, leaving gaps and modern intrusions that also persist today.

1975–present: Preservation and revitalization efforts

In 1975 several residents of the Ten Broeck Triangle formed the Arbor Hill Concerned Citizens Association (AHCCA) to lobby the city for improvements in neighborhood services. Many of them lived in the surviving townhouses, which they had often

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

themselves. They saw

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

as the key to revitalizing the neighborhood, due to its proximity to

and the growing service-sector jobs there. To further this goal, they worked with

to have the triangle recognized as a

. That area was duly listed on the Register in 1979 as the Ten Broeck Historic District. The city's

agency helped to repopulate the area with three auctions of

foreclosed Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

houses on Ten Broeck Street during that period. Starting prices were between $5–10,000; winning bidders received a $70,000 grant and a $80,000 loan at 3 percent interest. Priority went to former residents of Arbor Hill, families, and those who demonstrated an eagerness to participate in the community. All had to have a sufficient

credit history :''This article deals with the general concept of the term credit history. For detailed information about the same topic in the United States, see Credit score in the United States.'' A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repay ...

to justify the loan. The AHCCA assisted the city in identifying bidders who met those qualifications. While only half the houses sold under the program were actually rehabilitated, the program was considered a success. Continuing historic surveys and inventories of the area found that the blocks between the Ten Broeck Triangle and North Swan also had many intact rowhouses from the same 19th century period with little modern intrusion, even if some of them were in a state of neglect and disrepair. That area also extended to St. Joseph's School, part of the church's complex. Accordingly, in 1984, the district was extended by to its present size of . In addition to almost tripling its area, it more than doubled the amount of

to 220. The expanded district was renamed to reflect the area's wider scope and historic naming. St. Joseph's particularly struggled in the late 20th century. After being among the many historic locations in Albany used by the producers of the 1987 film '' Ironweed'' to recreate the city's appearance during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, tight finances forced the Diocese of Albany to sell it to a congregant who in turn rented it back to them. That transaction did not prevent the church's outright closure in 1994; two years later the diocese bought it back and appointed a committee to seek alternative uses for it. By that point the church needed extensive repairs estimated to cost at least $2 million. In 2000 St. Joseph's made the Historic Albany Foundation's list of "Seven to Save" in the city, and then the New York State Preservation League's similar list for the state two years later. A plan to rehabilitate it for use as a nightclub fell through, and when the building itself was on the verge of collapse in the winter of 2001 the city had to shore it up and take possession under

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

. It was in turn deeded to Historic Albany, which was able to secure matching funds for the necessary work which continued to stage cultural events there to raise all the money for a more complete

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

. Its plans for the

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...

of the building failed to meet with community approval, and in 2013 Historic Albany returned it to the city. Residents of the Triangle continue to advocate for the church's restoration. 41 Ten Broeck St, Albany, NY

Historic Albany also helped partially preserve 41 Ten Broeck Street. In 2000, after ownership had reverted to Albany County following a

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

for unpaid

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

es, the county began to demolish the building. A court ordered the work stopped after finding that the county had not gained the proper approvals. It was eventually transferred to Historic Albany, which had brought the suit. Today only the facade remains, and Historic Albany is working to find a developer willing to restore it and rebuild the structure. The AHCCA founded a separate group called the Arbor Hill Improvement Corporation in the early 1980s to address housing issues that the private developers of the area were not. It assists residents in applying for financing and restoration grants, sometimes partnering with similar organizations in other neighborhoods in applying for grants. Another community group, St. Joseph Housing Corporation, has renovated some old buildings into

. By the 1990s the Ten Broeck Triangle had been almost completely restored and was home to a thriving community of young professionals and their families. However, the rest of the district, like the rest of Arbor Hill, had not been gentrified and continued to have the problems associated with poorer, predominantly minority urban neighborhoods. While there was tension between residents who continued to support those efforts and residents who felt the neighborhood should focus on improving lower-end housing, as the 20th century ended the latter efforts became more acceptable as it was clearer that gentrification could not spread beyond the triangle. In 2002 local artist Yacob Williams painted the first of four

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s in the Arbor Hill neighborhood on the house at the corner of North Swan and Livingston, a project intended to improve the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

in a high-crime area. He chose the design, "Mother Africa", from suggestions submitted by local youth, who also assisted on the painting. The project was cosponsored by the Ten Broeck Triangle Preservation League and the Social Capital Development Corporation. During the 2010s, St. Joseph's Academy was renovated into the Albany Barn, a space for 22 artists to live and work. In 2018 Albany mayor

and her husband bought 18 First Street for $77,000. "I've been talking about preserving these buildings, moving downtown," she said. "I need to walk the walk." Restoring the house turned out to be more extensive than they expected, requiring replacing a side wall, the roof, the entire plumbing and electrical systems, and gutting the interior. "It stopped being much of a historic preservation because we couldn't preserve anything", she said. The couple moved in late in 2019.

Significant contributing properties

All but three of the 220 buildings in the district are

to its historic character. Almost all of those 217 are houses. One, the

, is individually listed on the

Register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), the ...

as well. Some others have distinctive characteristics within the district.

Houses

*2–38 First Street. This group of three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

, three-story rowhouses, descending in steps along with its street, has been described as "one of the most aesthetically pleasing mid-19th century townscapes in Albany." Many have brownstone

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

ed doorways. All were built in the late 1850s and early 1860s. *51 and 51 First Street: These two brick houses were built in 1885 in the

style, unique on the street. They feature classically-inspired

decoration Decoration may refer to: * Decorative arts * A house painter and decorator's craft * An act or object intended to increase the beauty of a person, room, etc. * An award that is a token of recognition to the recipient intended for wearing Other ...

such as a

and

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

and a

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. The house at 51 has

in some windows. *55 and 57 First Street. These houses, 55 in wood and 57 in brick, predate 1846, making them among the earliest on the street. Both have a basic

form with later

detail such as a cornice and

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

s. While the front facade of 55 First is now clad with

aluminum siding Siding or wall cladding is the protective material attached to the exterior side of a wall of a house or other building. Along with the roof, it forms the first line of defense against the elements, most importantly sun, rain/snow, heat and cold ...

, 57 is largely intact, with a pedimented door hood and eyebrow windows. *65 and 67 First Street: These are another pair of wooden houses. Built in the late 1880s, their unusual decoration for the neighborhood includes a pedimented and arched entry with

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and a porch with curved

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

and an unusual railing. Modern

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

siding has covered up the facade at 65, but 67 retains the original

clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

, unusual window casings and an iron fence across the front yard. *69 and 71 First Street: These two brick houses, built at the same time as their neighbors, share the same unusual design touches. They include porches with bracket-like members between posts and corbelling supporting a decorative cornice on the facade. *2–6 Hall Place: This row of brick houses with wooden

latticework __NOTOC__ Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave. Latticework may be functional &nda ...

two-story porches dates to 1859. The house at 4 Hall is four stories; 5 and 6 Hall have

s pierced by

dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

s that were added in 1874 when the

style was popular. *86–90 North Hawk Street: These three attached brick houses are among the district's few

style homes. All have wide door and window enclosures topped by Tudor-style moldings and prominent stone water tables. They date to the late 1850s. *36 North Swan Street: This brick Italianate three-story commercial-residential building has a bracketed wooden latticework cornice. Its two-over-two sash glazed windows have iron hoods and sills. The storefront is done in Carrarra glass. It was built in the late 1860s. *43 and 53 North Swan Street: These two wooden two-story structures are the oldest largely intact

commercial/residential buildings in the district, dating to 1845. Both have their original clapboard siding on the second floor and a bracketed cornice. The building at 43 North Swan has six-over-six double-hung

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...

and eyebrow windows as well. *50 North Swan Street: This two-story wooden commercial-residential building dates to 1844, making it the oldest on the street and one of the few buildings in the western section of the district predating the removal of the Van Rensselaer Cemetery. It has a bracketed cornice above the storefront; the upper story has been reclad with aluminum siding. *94 North Swan Street. Its facade long since covered in aluminum and permastone, this two-story wooden house from the late 1850s has a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

in the middle of its cornice, an unusual feature in the district. *12 and 14 Second Street: The two brick rowhouses here are typical of the Albany style of that building type. They have high exposed stone basements, stone stoops, tall windows, an iron hood on the door and an intricate bracketed cornice. They were built in the early 1870s. *20 Second Street: This two-story wooden house with a side gable is one of the few with that kind of roof in the district. A simple wood cornice is its only decorative touch; its facade is covered in aluminum. With its construction predating 1841, it is one of the earlier houses in the district. *23 and 25 Second Street: This pair of brick houses, built in the late 1840s, demonstrate the transition between the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. Their denticulated cornices, a hallmark of the former, are supported by the wooden brackets commonly associated with the latter. The houses are distinguished by a Gothic Revival railing around the

areaway In architecture, an area (areaway in North America) is an excavated, subterranean space around the walls of a building, designed to admit light into a basement. Also called a lightwell, it often provides access to the house and a store-room/servi ...

at 23 along with almost flush lintels and sills, in contrast to the door pediment and projecting sills of 25. *31 Second Street: Considered one of the best Greek Revival houses in the district, this wooden structure dates to the early 1840s. It has pilasters, flushboard siding, battered and shouldered window and door architraves and a cornice that suggests an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

. *32 Second Street: Like the house across the street at 31 Second, this brick house exhibits less restraint in its Greek Revival stylings. Its decorative touches include columns

in antis An anta (pl. antæ, antae, or antas; Latin, possibly from ''ante'', "before" or "in front of"), or sometimes parastas (pl. parastades), is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek ...

and a wood cornice. Its eyebrow windows have Greek key-patterned wooden screens. Its construction predates 1841. *44 Second Street: This two-story wooden house is one of the district's more idiosyncratic. Its one-over-one glazed windows are in a random arrangement; the second floor is splayed out in a bell curve. At the top is a bracketed cornice. It is believed, without certainty, to have been built in the 1840s. *53 Second Street: The only residential-commercial building in the district not on North Swan, this brick structure in

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

has classic Greek Revival features such as flat lintels, barely projecting sills, a denticulated cornice and a simple frieze. It was built around 1844. *3 St. Joseph's Terrace: This one-story brick house is trimmed in marble and has a Spanish-style projecting

roof. Built in 1914, it is one of the last houses to be built during the district's period of significance. *4 and 5 St. Joseph's Terrace: These two

two-story townhouses share similarities of form despite differing materials. Both have projecting semicircular second-story bays, arched doorways and segmental-arched first-story windows; however, 4 is yellow brick on a high

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

while 5 is made completely of rusticated brownstone. Much original decoration and finish remains on 4, including its original wooden doors, stained-glass

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

in a first-floor window and dragon motif in the iron railing on the original steps. They were built in the mid-1890s. *10 Ten Broeck Place: This frame house clad in modern

brick siding dates to the 1830s, making it the oldest surviving house in the district after the mansion. It has a Greek Revival entrance flanked by pilasters, shouldered trim on its six-by-six sash downstairs and eyebrow windows upstairs. Atop is a shallow

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. *16 and 18 Ten Broeck Place: These two Italianate brick houses have prominent projecting sheet metal door and window hoods. At the roofline are bracketed cornices with porthole windows. They were built in the 1870s. *30 Ten Broeck Place: Another frame house predating the cemetery removal, this two-story building, now sided in aluminum, has six-over-six sash, Gothic Revival elements on its doorway and a bracketed cornice. Atop is a gabled roof. It is estimated to have been built about 1842. *41 Ten Broeck Street: This is a three-story, five-

brick house with a brownstone Greek Revival entrance, stone lintels and a brick and wood cornice. Considered the first of the large mansion-style houses to be built on the street, it was built in 1845. Following an abortive demolition in 2000, only the facade remains. *43–45 Ten Broeck Street: These two rowhouses are two-story brick buildings trimmed in marble. They have asymmetric windows and arched doorways. Local architect William Lee Woollett, the first owner of record for 45, is believed to have designed and built them both around 1900. *49 Ten Broeck Street: This three-story brick house, built in 1859, has a prominent entrance

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with Ionic columns. It serves as the focal point for eastward views down Second Street. *51 Ten Broeck Street: This two-story brick house is the earliest dated house on the street, built in 1842 before the cemetery was moved. Its Italianate cornice was probably added later. *55 Ten Broeck Street: The two pilasters flanking the entrance of this two-story brick house are a feature common to other rowhouses of that era elsewhere in the city but not seen much otherwise in the Ten Broeck Triangle. They were built in the early 1860s. *57–59 Ten Broeck Street: These two late Italianate three-story rowhouses have unusual elongated proportions. Two brothers are believed to have built them around 1873. *93 Ten Broeck Street: This two-and-half-story brick Italianate house sits on a large lot for the neighborhood. It has intricate detailing, including

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

s, segmental arched lintels, ironwork and heavy brackets on the cornices. Side porches overlook what was once the garden on the south side. It is not known when, exactly, it was built. *105 Ten Broeck Street: This two-and-a-half-story brick house has a clipped corner, giving it an unusual polygonal shape fitting its location at the north end of the street. It is topped with an iron mansard roof, in keeping with its believed construction date of 1873.

Other buildings

*King Building, 27–29 North Swan Street. This is a two-story brick Greek Revival duplex with six-over-six double-hung

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s, flush lintels and near-flush sills, intricate

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

door caps and a brick

. In the rear is an arch which was originally the rear entrance to the Ten Broeck Mansion. It dates to the 1850s. * St. Joseph's Church, Ten Broeck Street.

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

architect

designed this

church of

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge) * felds ...

with

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

trim for the growing Irish immigrant population in the northern neighborhoods of Albany. It was finished in 1860 and has served as the district's focal point ever since. The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany ( la, Diœcesis Albanensis) covers 13 counties in Eastern New York ( Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, and Washington ...

stopped using it in 1994; since then there have been various efforts to restore it. *St. Joseph's Church Rectory, 12 St. Joseph's Terrace. Built in 1892, this is a brick three-story

house with stone lintels and string courses and an arched center door and basement window. It is topped with an asymmetrical

d roof. *St. Joseph's Academy, 70 North Swan Street. This four-story brick building, dating to 1905, has sections articulated by its

fenestration Fenestration may refer to: * Fenestration (architecture), the design, construction, or presence of openings in a building * Used in relation to fenestra in anatomy, medicine and biology * Fenestration, holes in the rudder of a ship to reduce the w ...

and stair towers on its east (front) facade. Its

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

and

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

are limestone; the windows on the fourth floor are arched with a brick course connecting them at the springline. It has been used as a youth center; following renovations in the 2010s, it is now the Albany Barn, which offers 22 living and work spaces for local artists. *St. Joseph's Terrace Apartment Buildings, 7–8 and 9–10 St. Joseph's Terrace. These two brick buildings, constructed in 1914, are the only purpose-built apartments in the district. Both are brick and four

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

wide, with 7–8 three stories tall and 9–10 four stories. The former is distinguished by its stone trim, including

keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...

, entrance surrounds and water tables. The latter has projecting

bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

s on its upper stories. *Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church, 4 Ten Broeck Street. This brick church on a high

dates to 1877. Its steeple was removed in the 1960s, but it remains an important aspect of the district as its southern gateway, at the Clinton Avenue intersection.

Preservation

In 2003 two planning firms hired by the city sought citizen input and created the Arbor Hill Citizen Advisory Committee, which developed a plan to improve life in Arbor Hill as a whole. Among the aspects considered was how the historic district could benefit the neighborhood's future. The Ten Broeck Triangle, it noted, was one of three areas of Arbor Hill where property values did not suffer from the neighborhood's bad reputation. "It is not unusual to see an abandoned building next to a home in which a property owner has invested $300,000 or more," in the Triangle, the report said. "Clearly, to the extent that neighborhood-wide problems are alleviated or solved, property owners in the Ten Broeck neighborhood will greatly benefit and market values can be expected to escalate rapidly." Projects suggested specifically for the district include promoting the

of larger properties like St. Joseph's School, a tree-lined pathway from North Swan to the Ten Broeck Mansion, and improving the sidewalks along North Swan. The reuse of St. Joseph's Church was also considered, with low-impact uses preferred. It was also suggested that Ten Broeck Street itself be made more pedestrian-friendly, either with wider sidewalks, trees on the sidewalks or a tree-lined center

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

. Participants in the meetings rejected a proposal for a new "signature building" at North Swan and Livingston because they thought the area was

dense Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematically ...

enough already. In a 2005 progress report on the plan, the city noted that the state had awarded the Albany Housing Authority a grant for a

feasibility study A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...

on the former St. Joseph's School. It also reported on Historic Albany's progress in stabilizing and restoring St. Joseph's, possibly for future use as a branch library. The organization had helped the plan's cultural goals as well by organizing a walking tour of the Ten Broeck Triangle. In 2010 the city and the advisory committee shared an award from the

American Planning Association The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...

's (APA)

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

chapter for excellence in implementing the plan. Four years later the national APA recognized the entirety of Arbor Hill as one of its 10 great neighborhoods in America, along with

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Adams Morgan Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles (2.54 km) north of the White House. Notable establishments in the neighborhood include the ...

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

's Victorian District and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

's Fremont.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arbor Hill Historic District-Ten Broeck Triangle Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) U.S. Route 9 Buildings and structures in Albany, New York National Register of Historic Places in Albany, New York