Center Square & Hudson/Park in Albany in Albany County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
144 Lancaster Street
Photographed by Trudi Jacobson, August 2, 2026
1. 144 Lancaster Street Marker
1st resident Timothy Knower,
Paymaster, NYCRR
1863
Erected by Historic Albany Foundation.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Railroads & Streetcars. In addition, it is included in the Historic Albany Foundation series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1863.
Location. 42° 39.186′ N, 73° 45.758′ W. Marker is in Albany, New York, in Albany County. It is in Center Square & Hudson/Park. It is on Lancaster Street 0.2 miles Dove Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 144 Lancaster Street, Albany NY 12210, 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
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Regarding 144 Lancaster Street. The house at 144 Lancaster Street was built in 1863 for Alexander Marvin, a retired Albany merchant, and was first occupied by Timothy A. Knower, a paymaster for the New York Central Railroad.
Alexander Marvin was a member of a family of merchants who helped shape Albany's commercial development during the early nineteenth century. Originally from Lyme, Connecticut, Marvin came to Albany about 1806 and entered business with his brothers William and John. Their firm, W., J. & A. Marvin, operated on South Market Street, now South Broadway. Following changes in the partnership, Alexander continued
Photographed by Trudi Jacobson, August 2, 2026
2. 144 Lancaster Street
Marvin was also the subject of an 1849 marble relief portrait by Albany sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer (1817–1904). The portrait is in the collection of the Albany Institute of History & Art, providing a surviving artistic record of one of the city's nineteenth-century merchants.
The house's first resident, Timothy A. Knower, was associated with another important sector of Albany's economy: transportation. The 1868 Albany City Directory identifies him as a paymaster for the New York Central Railroad, with an office in the Exchange Building. By that year, he was residing at 37 Jay Street.
Knower's employment reflects Albany's importance as a railroad center during the nineteenth century, when expanding rail networks increasingly connected the city's commercial interests with markets throughout New York State and beyond.
The histories of Marvin and Knower illustrate two successive phases of Albany's economic development: the mercantile enterprises of the early nineteenth century and the expanding railroad industry of the decades that followed.
Sources
City Directory. 1868. Entry for Timothy A. Knower.
Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery. Catalog of American Portraits. “Alexander Marvin,” marble relief by Erastus Dow Palmer, 1849. Albany Institute of History & Art, accession no. 1963.55. https://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=Alexander+Marvin+Erastus+Dow+Palmer
Worth, Gorham A. Random Recollections of Albany, from 1800 to 1808. Albany: J. Munsell, 1866. Account of Alexander Marvin and the Marvin mercantile partnerships.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 6, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 6, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 6, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
