Center Square & Hudson/Park in Albany in Albany County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

439 State Street

Photographed by Trudi Jacobson, August 16, 2026

1. 439 State Street Marker

Inscription. Built for Harriet & Albert V. Bensen
Owner of the China Tea Co.
1880
Attributed to
Architect Albert Fuller
Historic Albany Foundation

Erected by Historic Albany Foundation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1880.

Location. 42° 39.473′ N, 73° 46.056′ W. Marker is in Albany, New York, in Albany County. It is in Center Square & Hudson/Park. It is on State Street close to Sprague Street, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 439 State Street, Albany NY 12206, 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 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:

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405 State Street (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Albany Soldiers and Sailors Memorial (about 500 feet away); Parading and Promenading (about 500 feet away); 397 State Street (about 600 feet away); Townsend Park (about 600 feet away); Spanish-American War Memorial (about 700 feet away); In Grateful Memory of Colonel Marinus Willett (about 700 feet away); Thirsty? (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Albany.

Regarding 439 State Street. Albert Van Voast Bensen came to Albany in 1860 and became associated with the China Tea Company. The 1863 Albany city directory listed him as a clerk with the company at 78 State Street. An 1864 advertisement promoted “new crop” English breakfast teas “selected expressly for the retail trade.” By 1876, Bensen was listed with the China Tea Company at 84 and 86 State Street, with a branch at 15 Clinton Avenue. A later biographical account described the tea and coffee business he established in Albany as having grown to large proportions; he remained in business until retiring in 1908.
Bensen married Harriet Louise Allen in 1878, and this house was built

439 State Street image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Trudi Jacobson, August 16, 2026

2. 439 State Street

The marker is at the left of the entrance doors.

two years later. Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City describes 439 State Street as a pressed-brick and rusticated-brownstone house that may have been designed by Albert Fuller. The attribution is based in part on features characteristic of Fuller’s work, including the arched entrance and ground-floor double windows. Strong belt courses define the upper stories, a pair of carved beaver ornaments the second-story string course, and a subtle Dutch gable frames the trio of arched windows on the third floor. The same source notes that the Bensen family lived here for more than forty years and that the nearby brownstone row at 434–437 State Street, also dating from 1880, appears to have been built for Bensen.

Harriet survived her husband and continued to appear in Albany society reporting. In 1919, the Albany Argus reported that Mrs. Albert V. Bensen, her daughter Louisa, and Albert Bensen Jr., accompanied by house guests from New York, motored to Williamstown to attend the Williams-Hamilton football game.

Sources:
— “Advertisements,” The Canteen, no. 3, February 24, 1864, p. 32.
— Albany Argus, October 28, 1919.
— Albany City Directory,

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1876.
— Albany Directory, 1863.
— Reynolds, Cuyler, ed., Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs.
— Waite, Diana S., ed., Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City, pp. 164–165.

Credits. This page was last revised on September 5, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 30, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.