Arbor Hill is a neighborhood in
Albany, New York, generally defined as the area from
Clinton Avenue north to Tivoli Hollow and the
Livingston Avenue Railroad Bridge and from
Broadway west to
Henry Johnson Boulevard.
Both Clinton Avenue and Henry Johnson Boulevard are signed as
U.S. Route 9. It was outside Albany's first boundaries as set up in the
Dongan Charter of 1686. The original name of the area was Colonie (which is applied now to the
current town to the north), and the area was incorporated under that name as a village in 1804; it was annexed by Albany in 1815.
[ There are two sub-neighborhoods in Arbor Hill, Dudley Heights and the Ten Broeck Triangle. "Arbor Hill" was the name given to the Ten Broeck estate; the Ten Broeck Mansion is still an important cultural and historical museum. The neighborhood has other historical and cultural sights such as the Palace Theatre and St. Joseph's Church. Demographically it is predominantly African-American.
]
History
The Albany neighborhood of Arbor Hill had its start as a rural section of the neighboring town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of Watervliet.[ The area was referred to as "the Colonie" and would be incorporated as a municipality in 1791, but would stay within Watervliet.]village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in 1804.[ In 1808 Colonie separated from Watervliet as a separate town.][ The trustees of the town, the voters of the town, and the common council of the city of Albany all approved annexation of the town to the city. The state on February 25, 1815, passed "An ACT to annex the Town of Colonie to the City of Albany".
Many of the workers involved in building 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 navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...
settled here in the 1820s, but by the late 19th century the area—especially the Ten Broeck Triangle section—became exclusive, catering to the new lumber industry barons. By the mid-20th century the decline of Albany's lumber industry led to a decline in fortunes for Arbor Hill.the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank an ...
, it became a distressed light industrial and residential neighborhood . In the early 20th Century, it was mostly settled by a mix of immigrants from Europe, but primarily Irish-American
Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry.
Irish immigration to the United States
From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
s. During the administration of mayor Erastus Corning II ( 1942 to 1983), urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
contributed to white flight
The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...
, and the area lost much of its population. By the end of the 20th century, it became demographically predominantly African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
.
The neighborhood police unit for Arbor Hill was introduced in September 1972 and funded by the federal Law Enforcement Administration Agency (LEAA), which paid for the staffing and training of 48 officers. As the LEAA fell victim to budget cuts, the city was left with little money for maintaining the units and staffing fell to 32 officers. Within one week a firebomb destroyed the building at the corner of Second and Lark streets. The unit then moved to a storefront at 133 Northern Boulevard (today Henry Johnson Boulevard), where it remained until April 4, 1986, when the unit was closed.
The New Covenant Charter School
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
was opened in Arbor Hill in 1999 as the first in the city and only the second in the state amid huge support as a means to reach minority and underperforming students. The school had miserable scores and high turnover in both the student population and among teachers. The charter school was finally closed in 2010. New Covenant was the second of the first three charter schools to close, the second to close in the Capital District and only the eighth in the state to be closed.
Geography
Arbor Hill includes the section of Albany west from Broadway to Henry Johnson Boulevard and north from Sheridan Hollow to Tivoli Hollow.[
]
Education
Arbor Hill has one public elementary school (not counting charter schools): Arbor Hill Elementary School, at 1 Arbor Drive. Demographically, it is 89% Black, 5% Latino, 4% Multiracial, 1% White, and 1% Asian or Pacific Islander. 73% of students are eligible for the free or reduced price lunch program, and 3% have limited English proficiency. The attendance rate is 92%. The average class size is 18 students, and the student body is 393 students in K-6 as of 2007.
See also
* Arbor Hill Historic District–Ten Broeck Triangle
* Neighborhoods of Albany, New York
* Clinton Avenue Historic District (Albany, New York)
* History of Albany, New York
References
{{Coord, 42, 39, 40, N, 73, 44, 58, W, display=title
Neighborhoods in Albany, New York
Former villages in New York (state)
Former towns in New York (state)
U.S. Route 9