Mansion Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Mansion Historic District, sometimes referred to as Mansion Hill, is located south of Empire State Plaza
in Albany
, New York, United States. It takes its name from the nearby New York State Executive Mansion
, which overlooks it. It is a 45 acres (18.2 ha), 16-block
area with almost 500 buildings. Many of them are rowhouses and townhouses built in the middle and late 19th century that remain mostly intact today.
It was first developed in the early 19th century as a small group of estates for wealthy citizens. Later it was subdivided, becoming the first home for several waves of immigrant groups, most notably Italian Americans. In the mid-20th century it began to decline
when the construction of Empire State Plaza cut it off from downtown and adversely impacted the neighborhood. A local neighborhood association
was formed during this period and has been credited with helping the Mansion neighborhood recover and become a desirable place to live in the early 21st century. In 1982 it was designated a historic district
by the city's Historic Resources Commission and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
to its east, where the adjacent Pastures
district is located. The South Mall Expressway, carrying traffic from the Dunn Memorial Bridge
to Empire State Plaza separates the district from the Times Union Center and downtown
to its north and northeast.
Erastus Corning Tower
and the other modernist
high-rises of Empire State Plaza loom over the district from the northwest. Along its west is a strip of land that includes the governor's mansion, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the New York State Library
. Lincoln Park is located to the southwest, and on the south the city's South End, with a greater mix of industrial and commercial properties, begins.
As to the district's actual boundaries, South Pearl Street (NY 32
) on the east is the only side where the line follows a street for most of that direction. The north side is delineated on the corners by Madison Avenue (US 20
) but there the boundary includes most of Van Zandt Street and most of the south side of Hamilton before returning to Madison along Philip Street and the rear lot
lines of the properties at the Van Zandt corner. It goes west to Eagle Street via Madison and excludes the building across from the cathedral.
It follows Eagle's east side down to the corner of Park Avenue, then the middle of that street to include the houses on its south side and some of those on Philip south of it. It follows property lines to Charles Street, leaving out the large commercial property on Park between Philip and Grand. On that street it goes north for a few lots then crosses the block between Grand and Trinity Place just north of a large old factory. At that street it goes south a few lots, then returns to South Pearl after excluding another industrial property.
Charles, Elm, Myrtle and Wilbur streets are included in their entirety, as are Ash Grove, Bleecker and Madison places.
The district thus bounded contains 475 buildings, only 20 of which are non-contributing
. Most are two- or three-story rowhouses. A few larger, similar commercial buildings are scattered throughout the district, and there are two churches. Development is dense and urban in character, with a few vacant lots.
Open space is provided by three parks, all along Philip Street, with two large ones across the street from each other between Elm and Myrtle streets. The western one has a basketball court
.
Italians, the last of several immigrant groups to make Mansion their first home in Albany, became identified with it after a huge influx in the late 19th century. The 20th century saw the neighborhood victimized by decline and urban renewal
, but begin to recover in the later years.
d area roughly equivalent to its present downtown. The area of the future Mansion neighborhood was across a deep ravine from it (since filled in) and thus did not attract much settlement. The first recorded settler in the area was a farmer named Hendri Hallenbake. When he died in 1766, his family subdivided the area and sold the lots
to wealthy Albanyites who built large houses for themselves.
After the Revolution
, one of those new residents was Peter W. Yates
, a successful local lawyer and militia colonel during the war. He was known to have been living there in 1791, in a house at what is now the intersection of Ashgrove and Trinity places. In 1807, three years before he left Albany for Montgomery County
, he sold the house to James Kane.
to the west, would become the landowner who made the most impact on the future neighborhood despite a relatively short tenure in it. In a series of purchases, he expanded the estate to include most of the present district, excepting the sections north of Madison Avenue and west of Grand Street, as well as land as far south as Arch Street. He gained fame statewide for his hospitality. After he lost his fortune in the Panic of 1819
, the estate was seized by his creditor
s.
Outside his land, the first development
took place. A Federal style house was built at 146 Madison Avenue in 1828, the oldest extant house in the district today. Nearby, 143 Madison went up five years later. It, too, is a Federal building, but with some exterior alterations from the later 19th century. After the opening of the Erie Canal
in 1825 sparked economic growth, new residential land was sought. While most of it would come north and west of downtown, Trinity Place was opened (as Broad Street) in 1836. The first rowhouses in the future Mansion Historic District, 16–24 and 39–45a Trinity, were built in 1839–40 along with 2 Ashgrove Street nearby. David Orr, one of the wealthiest men in Albany, built the row at 57-65 Grand around the same time, the last houses in the district built in High Greek Revival
style. This marks the beginning of the Mansion neighborhood as it is known today.
Archibald McIntyre
and Henry Yates bought the Kane estate in 1834. It was used as a temporary governor's mansion by William H. Seward
, and possibly others. Yates spent his later years in the house, selling off the portion north of Ashgrove and Westerlo streets around the same time the rowhouses were being built on Trinity. When Yates died in 1854, the house became the Albany Female Academy
. Eleven years later, the academy moved to its current quarters and Kane's estate was demolished to make way for a church.
Throughout the early 1840s, there was little new construction due to the economic slowdown in the wake of the Panic of 1837
, other than a small row on Hamilton Street. When construction resumed in the late 1840s, there would be a new row on Bleecker, and individual rowhouses all over the district. Orr built one of the most distinctive rows in the district, 6-10 Madison, frpom 1845-48 specifically with wealthy homebuyers in mind. The pointed-arch windows and Gothic tracery suggest the possible influence of Andrew Jackson Downing
's architectural theories.
The Mansion District took off in the 1850s. The city's economy was booming due to the canal, the railroads and the industrialization taking place. The new workers, many of them Irish immigrants
, coming to the city needed houses, and the Pastures had mostly been built out. Developers therefore looked to the emptier lands to the west. Orr developed houses on Madison, Myrtle and Park as well as Grand Street. He was joined by Charles and Lewis Seymour, stonemasons
who built the row at 44–50 Grand and possibly several others. Lewis Seymour's slightly unusual frame
house still stands at 14 Wilbur Street.
Another major builder of the Mansion District was James Eaton, superintendent of building at the New York State Capitol
for some time during this period. He brought some newer architectural styles to the district, such as the Italianate
row at 46–68 Elm Street, with slightly gabled projecting pavilions
on each building giving the impression of a separate tower, more typical of detached Italianate
villas of the time. He also built the Gothic Revival 78–92 Grand Street, with a roof finial
dividing its symmetrical combined facade
s.
During this era the district became home to a large population of German immigrants
, many of them Jews
fleeing the collapse of the Revolution of 1848. They developed South Pearl into a local retail
center.
began moving in. They built the Italian Renaissance Revival St. Anthony's Church at Grand and Madison in 1908, and at the next census
two years later they had become the fourth largest ethnic group in the city of Albany. Ten years later, they were the largest, and had displaced the Irish from Park and Myrtle avenues. The Mansion became known as the city's "Garlic Core" due to this concentration of Italians.
It retained this character well into the century. "Madison below South Pearl, as late as 1941," William Kennedy wrote in O Albany!, "could be taken for a street in Italy" due to the many Italian names on businesses along that street. One of those, Lombardo's, has remained on Madison since 1933 and become one of the Capital District
's best-regarded Italian restaurants
.
The development of Empire State Plaza
had a major negative impact on the Mansion District. Adjacent neighborhoods were razed, and it was cut off from downtown by not only the plaza but the South Mall Arterial. Many residents left the area for the suburbs due to the impact of the construction. The diocese of Albany closed St. Anthony's due to a lack of parishioners in 1973. Urban blight
began to appear, and housing prices dropped as low as $5,000.
Some new residents decided to buy at those prices. In 1975, two of them founded the Mansion Neighborhood Association (MNA) to advocate for the community and oppose demolition plans. The organization persisted, and has been credited with helping the neighborhood rebound in the early 21st century (although some residents complain that neglect continues in some areas, and arson
destroyed several houses on Madison Place in 2007) The Albany Free School
, a democratic school
founded on Elm Street in 1969, also became one of its key institutions.
Houses in the area sell well due to their walkable
proximity to the Plaza and downtown, and newer arrivals praise the neighborhood's sense of community. One new resident, Elliot Spitzer, invited Mansion residents in for a house party in 2007, a few months after he moved into the governor's mansion. In the late 2000s, another community group bought St. Anthony's from the diocese, restored
it and converted
it into a cultural center
. It is now known as Grand Street Community Arts. Like the city's other historic districts, new construction or expansion within the Mansion district is reviewed by the city's Historic Resources Commission (HRC), a group of nine citizens with an interest in architecture, history or historic preservation
appointed by the mayor. The HRC also considers new city landmark designations.
Empire State Plaza
The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York....
in Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, New York, United States. It takes its name from the nearby New York State Executive Mansion
New York State Executive Mansion
The New York State Executive Mansion is the official residence of the Governor of New York. Located at 138 Eagle Street in Albany, New York, it has housed 31 governors and their families. The Italianate building was constructed in 1856 as a banker's private home...
, which overlooks it. It is a 45 acres (18.2 ha), 16-block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
area with almost 500 buildings. Many of them are rowhouses and townhouses built in the middle and late 19th century that remain mostly intact today.
It was first developed in the early 19th century as a small group of estates for wealthy citizens. Later it was subdivided, becoming the first home for several waves of immigrant groups, most notably Italian Americans. In the mid-20th century it began to decline
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
when the construction of Empire State Plaza cut it off from downtown and adversely impacted the neighborhood. A local neighborhood association
Neighborhood association
A neighborhood association is a group of residents or property owners who advocate for or organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues....
was formed during this period and has been credited with helping the Mansion neighborhood recover and become a desirable place to live in the early 21st century. In 1982 it was designated a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
by the city's Historic Resources Commission and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Geography
The Mansion district is built on land that rises 100 feet (30 m) on its west from the flatlands along the Hudson RiverHudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to its east, where the adjacent Pastures
Pastures Historic District
The Pastures Historic District is a residential neighborhood located south of downtown Albany, New York, United States. Its include all or part of a 13-block area....
district is located. The South Mall Expressway, carrying traffic from the Dunn Memorial Bridge
Dunn Memorial Bridge
The Dunn Memorial Bridge, officially known as the Private Parker F. Dunn Memorial Bridge, carries US 9 and US 20 across the Hudson River between Albany, New York and Rensselaer, New York. Completed in 1967 to replace an earlier span bearing the same name, the highway bridge has a steel girder...
to Empire State Plaza separates the district from the Times Union Center and downtown
Downtown Albany Historic District
The Downtown Albany Historic District is a 19-block, area of Albany, New York, United States, centered around the junction of State and North and South Pearl streets . It is the oldest settled area of the city, originally planned and settled in the 17th century, and the nucleus of its later...
to its north and northeast.
Erastus Corning Tower
Erastus Corning Tower
The Erastus Corning Tower, also known as the Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd Tower or simply the Corning Tower, is a skyscraper located in downtown Albany, New York. Completed in 1966 and sided with Vermont Pearl marble and glass, the state office building is part of the Empire State Plaza...
and the other modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
high-rises of Empire State Plaza loom over the district from the northwest. Along its west is a strip of land that includes the governor's mansion, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the New York State Library
New York State Library
The New York State Library is part of the New York State Education Department. The Library and its sister institutions, the New York State Museum and New York State Archives, are housed in the Cultural Education Center...
. Lincoln Park is located to the southwest, and on the south the city's South End, with a greater mix of industrial and commercial properties, begins.
As to the district's actual boundaries, South Pearl Street (NY 32
New York State Route 32
New York State Route 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 few divided and no limited-access sections. From Harriman to Albany,...
) on the east is the only side where the line follows a street for most of that direction. The north side is delineated on the corners by Madison Avenue (US 20
U.S. Route 20 in New York
U.S. Route 20 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Newport, Oregon, to Boston, Massachusetts. In the U.S. state of New York, US 20 extends from the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley to the Massachusetts state line in the Berkshire Mountains. US 20 is the longest...
) but there the boundary includes most of Van Zandt Street and most of the south side of Hamilton before returning to Madison along Philip Street and the rear lot
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
lines of the properties at the Van Zandt corner. It goes west to Eagle Street via Madison and excludes the building across from the cathedral.
It follows Eagle's east side down to the corner of Park Avenue, then the middle of that street to include the houses on its south side and some of those on Philip south of it. It follows property lines to Charles Street, leaving out the large commercial property on Park between Philip and Grand. On that street it goes north for a few lots then crosses the block between Grand and Trinity Place just north of a large old factory. At that street it goes south a few lots, then returns to South Pearl after excluding another industrial property.
Charles, Elm, Myrtle and Wilbur streets are included in their entirety, as are Ash Grove, Bleecker and Madison places.
The district thus bounded contains 475 buildings, only 20 of which are non-contributing
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
. Most are two- or three-story rowhouses. A few larger, similar commercial buildings are scattered throughout the district, and there are two churches. Development is dense and urban in character, with a few vacant lots.
Open space is provided by three parks, all along Philip Street, with two large ones across the street from each other between Elm and Myrtle streets. The western one has a basketball court
Basketball court
In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor with tiles at either end. In professional or organized basketball, especially when played indoors, it is usually made out of a wood, often maple, and highly polished...
.
History
There were mansions in the Mansion District before the governor's mansion was built. In its earliest days of settlement, it was known as Albany's first suburban enclave, an area where the affluent built large homes and surrounded them with gardens and landscaping. Large-scale development did not begin there until the mid-19th century, after other areas of the city had been built out.Italians, the last of several immigrant groups to make Mansion their first home in Albany, became identified with it after a huge influx in the late 19th century. The 20th century saw the neighborhood victimized by decline and urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
, but begin to recover in the later years.
18th century
At the time of Albany's settlement in the 17th century, the city was concentrated in a stockadeStockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
d area roughly equivalent to its present downtown. The area of the future Mansion neighborhood was across a deep ravine from it (since filled in) and thus did not attract much settlement. The first recorded settler in the area was a farmer named Hendri Hallenbake. When he died in 1766, his family subdivided the area and sold the lots
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
to wealthy Albanyites who built large houses for themselves.
After the Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, one of those new residents was Peter W. Yates
Peter W. Yates
Peter Waldron Yates was a lawyer and statesman from Albany, New York. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1786....
, a successful local lawyer and militia colonel during the war. He was known to have been living there in 1791, in a house at what is now the intersection of Ashgrove and Trinity places. In 1807, three years before he left Albany for Montgomery County
Montgomery County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,708 people, 20,038 households, and 13,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 22,522 housing units at an average density of 56 per square mile...
, he sold the house to James Kane.
19th century
Kane, a successful merchant who had made his fortune in trade in the Mohawk ValleyMohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
to the west, would become the landowner who made the most impact on the future neighborhood despite a relatively short tenure in it. In a series of purchases, he expanded the estate to include most of the present district, excepting the sections north of Madison Avenue and west of Grand Street, as well as land as far south as Arch Street. He gained fame statewide for his hospitality. After he lost his fortune in the Panic of 1819
Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States, and had occurred during the political calm of the Era of Good Feelings. The new nation previously had faced a depression following the war of independence in the late 1780s and led directly to the establishment of the...
, the estate was seized by his creditor
Creditor
A creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
s.
Outside his land, the first development
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
took place. A Federal style house was built at 146 Madison Avenue in 1828, the oldest extant house in the district today. Nearby, 143 Madison went up five years later. It, too, is a Federal building, but with some exterior alterations from the later 19th century. After the opening of the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
in 1825 sparked economic growth, new residential land was sought. While most of it would come north and west of downtown, Trinity Place was opened (as Broad Street) in 1836. The first rowhouses in the future Mansion Historic District, 16–24 and 39–45a Trinity, were built in 1839–40 along with 2 Ashgrove Street nearby. David Orr, one of the wealthiest men in Albany, built the row at 57-65 Grand around the same time, the last houses in the district built in High Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
style. This marks the beginning of the Mansion neighborhood as it is known today.
Archibald McIntyre
Archibald McIntyre
Archibald McIntyre was an American merchant and politician.-Life:...
and Henry Yates bought the Kane estate in 1834. It was used as a temporary governor's mansion by William H. Seward
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...
, and possibly others. Yates spent his later years in the house, selling off the portion north of Ashgrove and Westerlo streets around the same time the rowhouses were being built on Trinity. When Yates died in 1854, the house became the Albany Female Academy
Albany Academy for Girls
Albany Academy for Girls is an independent college-preparatory day school for girls in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool to Grade 12. Founded in 1814 by Ebenezer Foote as the Albany Female Academy, AAG is the oldest independent girls day school in the United States...
. Eleven years later, the academy moved to its current quarters and Kane's estate was demolished to make way for a church.
Throughout the early 1840s, there was little new construction due to the economic slowdown in the wake of the Panic of 1837
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...
, other than a small row on Hamilton Street. When construction resumed in the late 1840s, there would be a new row on Bleecker, and individual rowhouses all over the district. Orr built one of the most distinctive rows in the district, 6-10 Madison, frpom 1845-48 specifically with wealthy homebuyers in mind. The pointed-arch windows and Gothic tracery suggest the possible influence of Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
's architectural theories.
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, coming to the city needed houses, and the Pastures had mostly been built out. Developers therefore looked to the emptier lands to the west. Orr developed houses on Madison, Myrtle and Park as well as Grand Street. He was joined by Charles and Lewis Seymour, stonemasons
Stonemasonry
The craft of stonemasonry has existed since the dawn of civilization - creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth. These materials have been used to construct many of the long-lasting, ancient monuments, artifacts, cathedrals, and cities in a wide variety of cultures...
who built the row at 44–50 Grand and possibly several others. Lewis Seymour's slightly unusual frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
house still stands at 14 Wilbur Street.
Another major builder of the Mansion District was James Eaton, superintendent of building at the New York State Capitol
New York State Capitol
The New York State Capitol is the capitol building of the U.S. state of New York. Housing the New York State Legislature, it is located in the state capital city Albany, on State Street in Capitol Park. The building, completed in 1899 at a cost of $25 million , was the most expensive government...
for some time during this period. He brought some newer architectural styles to the district, such as the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
row at 46–68 Elm Street, with slightly gabled projecting pavilions
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
on each building giving the impression of a separate tower, more typical of detached Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
villas of the time. He also built the Gothic Revival 78–92 Grand Street, with a roof finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
dividing its symmetrical combined facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s.
During this era the district became home to a large population of German immigrants
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
, many of them Jews
History of the Jews in Germany
The presence of Jews in Germany has been established since the early 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades...
fleeing the collapse of the Revolution of 1848. They developed South Pearl into a local retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
center.
20th and 21st centuries
By 1876 the district was almost entirely built out, with the exception of some areas along Madison. The neighborhood continued to prosper in the last decades of the century, with the help of another immigrant community that would shape it. ItaliansItalian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
began moving in. They built the Italian Renaissance Revival St. Anthony's Church at Grand and Madison in 1908, and at the next census
United States Census, 1910
The Thirteenth United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21.0 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 Census...
two years later they had become the fourth largest ethnic group in the city of Albany. Ten years later, they were the largest, and had displaced the Irish from Park and Myrtle avenues. The Mansion became known as the city's "Garlic Core" due to this concentration of Italians.
It retained this character well into the century. "Madison below South Pearl, as late as 1941," William Kennedy wrote in O Albany!, "could be taken for a street in Italy" due to the many Italian names on businesses along that street. One of those, Lombardo's, has remained on Madison since 1933 and become one of the Capital District
Capital District
New York's Capital District, also known as the Capital Region, is a region in upstate New York that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of the state: Albany County, Schenectady County, Rensselaer County, and Saratoga County...
's best-regarded Italian restaurants
Italian-American cuisine
Italian American cuisine is the cuisine of Italian American immigrants and their descendents, who have modified Italian cuisine under the influence of American culture and immigration patterns of Italians to the United States...
.
The development of Empire State Plaza
Empire State Plaza
The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York....
had a major negative impact on the Mansion District. Adjacent neighborhoods were razed, and it was cut off from downtown by not only the plaza but the South Mall Arterial. Many residents left the area for the suburbs due to the impact of the construction. The diocese of Albany closed St. Anthony's due to a lack of parishioners in 1973. Urban blight
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
began to appear, and housing prices dropped as low as $5,000.
Some new residents decided to buy at those prices. In 1975, two of them founded the Mansion Neighborhood Association (MNA) to advocate for the community and oppose demolition plans. The organization persisted, and has been credited with helping the neighborhood rebound in the early 21st century (although some residents complain that neglect continues in some areas, and arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
destroyed several houses on Madison Place in 2007) The Albany Free School
Albany Free School
The Free School Professional Memberships & Affiliations:Member School:* Northeast Association of Independent Democratic Schools * Alternative Education Resource Organization * International Democratic Education Network...
, a democratic school
Democratic education
Democratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy...
founded on Elm Street in 1969, also became one of its key institutions.
Houses in the area sell well due to their walkable
Walkability
Walkability is a measure of how friendly an area is to walking. Walkability has many health, environmental, and economic benefits. Factors influencing walkability include the presence or absence and quality of footpaths, sidewalks or other pedestrian right-of-ways, traffic and road conditions,...
proximity to the Plaza and downtown, and newer arrivals praise the neighborhood's sense of community. One new resident, Elliot Spitzer, invited Mansion residents in for a house party in 2007, a few months after he moved into the governor's mansion. In the late 2000s, another community group bought St. Anthony's from the diocese, restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
it and converted
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
it into a cultural center
Cultural center
A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run...
. It is now known as Grand Street Community Arts. Like the city's other historic districts, new construction or expansion within the Mansion district is reviewed by the city's Historic Resources Commission (HRC), a group of nine citizens with an interest in architecture, history or historic preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
appointed by the mayor. The HRC also considers new city landmark designations.