The Paigeville Hotel: still here, sort of.
The area which we now know more or less as St. Vincent DePaul Parish, was once Albany’s “Wild West.” In the broader sense, it was part…
“Albany In Reelife” hits the big screen in 1941.
In the fall of 1941, the Times-Union joined forces with the Ritz Theatre and Warner Brothers to cross-promote an unexceptional rom-com feature, “Unexpected Uncle.” A Warner…
The Albany businessman’s lunch, circa 1927.
Illustrated and written by the amazing Jerry Costello. Now, good digestion, wait on appetite,And health on both.— Macbeth. A milling mob, like a miniature stock exchange…
Albany’s “human jukebox” : a brief history of Melodies, Inc..
Jukeboxes as centerpieces of barroom entertainment began to gain traction in the late 1930’s. By the ‘40s – especially the postwar years – they had become…
Albany’s school that never was
In April 1857, after touring several similar facilities in New York and Boston, the Albany Common Council decided it would be a great idea to open…
The tale of 922 Broadway
This is a story in three parts. It’s about a modest little building that made history and wound up as a pile of rubble. First, the…
The ads of Edmund J. Peters, 1899-1900
I started noticing these cool little ads while researching period newspapers. My curiosity got the best of me, and I went looking for them all. Edmund…
Districts of Albany in 1882
Its ravines unfilled, streams uncovered, and hills unflattened, Albany in 1882 was still hugely defined by its topography. Most neighborhoods remained isolated from one another, each…
Place Names of Albany & Rensselaer Counties, 1914
The State Board of Geographic Names was established in 1913 as an attempt to standardize and codify the names of cities, towns, village, rivers, creeks in…
The Awakening – Albany’s first movie (a.k.a. “Move Over, Ironweed”)
In 1914, the fledgling movie “industry” wasn’t so much an industry as it was a motley bunch of entrepreneurs, visionaries, and scammers. What was clear, however,…
Doc Circe Died For Our Sins 