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Downtown in Albany in Albany County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Building A Place to Live

 
 
Building A Place to Live Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 19, 2019
1. Building A Place to Live Marker
Inscription. Early Albany, the Dutch village of Beverwijck, was filled with artisans — the people who built the community and made it livable and bustling with activity. By the late 1650s, among the thousand residents who called Beverwijck home, hard at work in the village there were...
• 44 carpenters
• 30 brewers
• 24 tavern and inn keepers
• 23 shippers
• 20 bakers
• 16 tailors
• 11 brick and tile makers
• 11 smiths
• 7 gunstock makers
• 7 masons
• 7 shoemakers
• 5 carters
• 4 sawyers
• 4 glazers
• 4 wheelwrights
• 3 surgeons
• 3 millers
• 3 coopers
• 2 schoolmasters
• 1 midwife with assistants
• 1 distiller
• 1 tanner
• 1 cow herder
 
Erected 2016 by Albany Cultural Heritage & Tourism Partnership, Dutch Culture USA, New York State Museum, Downtown Albany Business Improvement District and SUNY.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial EraSettlements & Settlers.
 
Location. 42° 38.942′ N, 73° 45.04′ W. Marker is in Albany, New York, in Albany County. It is in Downtown. It is on Broadway just north of State Street (New York State Route 5), on the right when traveling north
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. Marker is located along the sidewalk. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Albany NY 12207, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York and in the Capital District. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: This is Broadway (a few steps from this marker); Old Dutch Church (a few steps from this marker); Albany (within shouting distance of this marker); General Burgoyne (within shouting distance of this marker); Fort Orange (within shouting distance of this marker); Clermont (within shouting distance of this marker); Henry Hudson (within shouting distance of this marker); Birthplace of American Union (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Albany.
 
Marker detail: Albany in the late 1650's image. Click for full size.
2. Marker detail: Albany in the late 1650's
When Albany was settled, there were several creeks, or kills, that defined the streetscape. Over time, the kills were buried underground, where they still flow and empty into the Hudson today.
Marker detail: By 1657 there were about 120 wood houses faced with clapboard and brick image. Click for full size.
3. Marker detail: By 1657 there were about 120 wood houses faced with clapboard and brick
This style was typical of urban Dutch architecture of the period.
Marker detail: The corner building directly across the Broadway image. Click for full size.
Courtesy Albany Institute of History and Art
4. Marker detail: The corner building directly across the Broadway
The corner building directly across the street, built in 1902 as a bank, is home to The Research Foundation for The State University of New York. From 1830 until 1855 the site was the location of the Albany Museum the precursor of the New York State Museum.
Building A Place to Live Marker<br>(<i>wide view looking west across Broadway</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 19, 2019
5. Building A Place to Live Marker
(wide view looking west across Broadway)
First Trust Company Building<br>(<i>directly west across Broadway from marker</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 19, 2019
6. First Trust Company Building
(directly west across Broadway from marker)
Marcus T. Reynolds designed this domed Beaux Arts commercial bank building in 1902. National Register of Historic Places #73001156, it is currently home to the Research Foundation for SUNY.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 1, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 437 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on January 1, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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Jun. 30, 2026