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Albany (Capital of the State)

the capital of the State of the Hudson river, about 145 miles N. of New York and the county-seat of Albany New York City. It is at the head of the

It is situated on the west bank of navigation of the Hudson river and is the terminus of the Erie and Champlain barge canals. Six railroads radiate from it to every part of the country. It is the terminus of the Boston and Albany rail- York Central, and the Delaware and road and the division terminus of the main lines of the West Shore, the New Hudson railroads. The city has direct York Central, and the Delaware and steamboat communication by day and night lines with New York and Hudson river points, while the Erie and Champlain canals give water communication with the interior of the State and the facilities of the city have made it an important commercial center. It is the secwest and north. The excellent shipping ond largest express and third largest mail transfer in the United States. Almail transfer in the United States. Aloil companies, mail-order houses, mations which do a national business. oil companies, mail-order houses, masite and as a result of careful city plan- Albany is an attractive city both in ning, which, in recent years, has transextensive park system with parks conformed certain portions. There is an veniently located to meet the needs of the various sections of the city. Among these are Washington Park, 90 acres, and tional features. The water and sewer Lincoln Park, 78 acres. systems are of the latest approved de- The city mainsig cluding three large general hospitals, and a number of special hospitals. sign. There are excellent hospitals, inschool facilities. There were in 1920, 23 Albany is well equipped with public people. In addition to the public schools school facilities. There were in 1920, 23 and parochial schools. In the city are there are many well-equipped private ALBANY CONGRESS 12 libraries, not including the State Library, which contains over 525,000 books. There are 75 churches, some of them of great architectural merit. Among the most notable public buildings are the State Capitol, City Hall, Union Station, State College for Teachers, county court house, the State Hall, State Education Building, and the State Library and State Museum. In addition to these there are many handsome business buildings.

The industries of the city are varied.

It has the oldest and largest baling press factory in the world, as well as the largest factory devoted to the manufacture of car-heating apparatus. It has also the largest toy factory in the United States. Other industries are the manufacture of billiard balls, patent stove specialties, writing paper, underwear, locomotives, gas ranges, beds, dies, cart wheels, chemicals, lumber, printing products, shirts, etc. The assessed valuation of real estate of the city is about $100,000,000, with a personal valuation of about $10,000,000.

There are four banks of discount, two trust companies, and seven savings banks, in the latter a deposit of nearly $100,000,000.

The first permanent site of Albany was made in 1614 by a company of Dutch traders who established a station at Castle Island under the name of Fort Nassau. The station was removed later to the mainland. In 1623 eighteen Walloon families sent by the Dutch West India Company settled on the present site of the city. In the same year Fort Orange was erected near the site of the present Steamboat Square. The settlement suffered severely from Indian attacks but continued to grow steadily. It received its name in 1664 from the Duke of York and Albany, afterward James II. It obtained a city charter in 1686 and became the capital of the State in 1797. Albany was selected for the convention of the First Provisional Congress which formed "a plan for a proposed union of several colonies." Pop. (1890) 94,923; (1900) 94,154; (1910) 100,253; (1920) 113,344.