Albany, New York

Rob and I woke up early on a Tuesday morning and drove up to Albany. The bright winter sun disappeared behind the clouds as we drove steadily north into the forests of New York State, and I contemplated the notion of the two New Yorks.

New York City is the biggest city in America and it’s also the center of the known universe. Things that happen in New York City affect people all around the world, including huge social and economic movements that first gain traction there. NYC is the epitome of the American melting pot. It was where many of our nation’s immigrants began their life here, and it is where all of the ethnicities of America come together as one. It is a magical place, but undeniably urban and fast-paced. Upstate New York has a very different culture. Here is where New England charm seizes the over-stressed city dwellers and coaxes them northward to discover what their soul has been craving: natural escape. And while many people vacation there, those that live in upstate New York are some of the most likeable people on the planet. Imagine small-town hospitality mixed with New York candor and humor. That, to me, is an amazing combination.

            I have been coming to upstate New York my entire life. Like many other New Jerseyans, the Adirondacks are my heaven on earth. Well, at least my “heaven on earth” that’s east of the Rocky Mountains. The summers in Adirondack State Park are some of the most enjoyable, with mild temperatures and gorgeous scenery. It has some of the tallest mountains of the Appalachian range and combined with countless lakes, the outdoor activities available are essentially endless. Unfortunately, it was still winter when I made my journey, and the ice and snow was more than plentiful.

            Rob and I arrived in Albany before 11am. First, we went straight to the New York State Museum. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that the Bar Exam was going on in the building next door, so there was literally no parking within a 5-block radius. Considering that it was 10 degrees outside including the wind chill, we kept looking for parking close by. We circled the area, doubling back to look at every gap that might have been a parking space. We even tried a few of the pay lots, but all of them were reserved as additional parking for the exam. We eventually discovered a block of spaces a short distance from the museum that would become available at 12, so we decided to find somewhere to get an early lunch so we didn’t have to walk too far in the biting cold.

            I searched Yelp on my phone and found the Iron Gate Cafe near the Capitol, so we drove over, parked in an over-priced garage, and then hurried inside. It was a cute little place nestled amongst the office buildings, set back from the street, protected by an iron fence and a small courtyard that was covered in snow. It seemed that this was mostly a to-go place that served many of the state government employees and other businesses in the area. I ordered a BLT with avocado, and sat at one of two tables in the tiny cafe. In the next ten minutes, a few small groups arrived to place their order, and the line was already out the door. Grateful that I had decided to come early and avoided the wait, I busied myself on my phone while my sandwich was being prepared. In no time, another worker appeared from the back with our meals, and we were both delighted with our choices. The ingredients were fresh and tasty, and it was just the thing we needed before we started our day of research.

            After the reviving meal, we drove back to the museum and confidently parked in the previously unavailable spaces before walking inside. The museum was a modern building, and definitely the largest state-funded museum that we have been to so far. Admission was free and the exhibits spanned the massive 1st floor. The rest of the levels were offices, with exception of the carousel on the top floor.

            The exhibits began to the right of the information desk with a private collection of antiques. It continued on into a large archeological exhibit about Albany and the various artifacts that have been found over the years. One of the most interesting displays was a colonial rum distillery that was discovered during the excavation for a proposed parking structure. Peter W. Quakenbush and Volckert A. Douw built the still house in 1759, and it was operational until 1810.

Europeans first learned to distill spirits from the Arabs in the middle ages but it wasn’t until the mid-1650s that commercialized production really began. Molasses, which is a by-product of making sugar, can be used to make rum. This discovery created the “rum boom” of the early 1700s that led to a massive increase in the importation of slaves. The French capitalized on the lucrative molasses trade in the English Colonies, and Britain’s Sugar Act of 1764 was intended to inhibit that. This was one of many restrictions on trade and commerce that aggravated tensions between Britain and the colonists, eventually leading to the American Revolution.

The next few exhibits covered a wide range of topics, including the natural history of New York State as well as the Native Americans that once inhabited the area. The Iroquois, also known as the Six Nations, are comprised up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations. They were a considerable presence in Canada and the Thirteen Colonies as they occupied a huge region in upstate New York, around the Great Lakes, and to the west of the Colonies. Relations with the Iroquois played a large part in political decisions as well as conflicts such as the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. In the museum’s exhibit, the staff had built a long house, which is the type of shelter the people of the Iroquois nation was known for making. It was an impressive, meticulously assembled structure that had obviously taken a lot of time to create.

As I was photographing the other artifacts, I noticed a man standing in front of a display of clay pots, holding what looked like another specimen. At first, I thought he worked at the museum and was replacing an item that had been removed for cleaning. When I asked him about it, he showed me a similar fragment of clay pottery with a small, carved design on it. He said that he found it in a farmer’s field, and he was trying to figure out which tribe it may have belonged too. After a final glance at the case, he shrugged, wished us a good day, and left.

The next exhibit was a large area dedicated to antebellum New York. New York had the largest slave population of any northern state during Colonial times. The rum boom and other economic demands in the early 1700s led to an increase in slave importation, and by 1750 there were more than 9,000 slaves in New York State, greater than any other state north of Maryland. Over the next 77 years, the abolition movement gained more and more traction. By 1800, a bill was passed in New York granting freedom to all female slaves born after 1799 by age of 25 and male slaves by age of 28. Slavery was officially abolished in NY on July 4th, 1827.

The Champlain and Erie Canals (and later, parallel railroads) were completed in 1823, and the new transportation corridor led to an explosion in Albany’s trade, economy, and population. 13,000 new residents per decade moved to Albany from 1820 to 1880. The sharp rise in demand for housing led to extremely close living quarters, particularly in poor immigrant neighborhoods. There were no regulations requiring certain standards of living, so in order to make a hefty profit, landlords would divide single-family homes into cramped housing for dozens of people. Those living in these conditions were mostly Irish immigrants, who suffered intense discrimination and horrible disease from living in these slums. Afflictions such as Cholera, Typhoid, and Dysentery were very common in these poor immigrant neighborhoods of the mid-1800s.

The remaining exhibits focused on the rise of New York City as a cultural and economic epicenter. In 1830, Delmonico’s in New York was the first restaurant to offer a menu full of items “a la carte” without any set mealtime. Its success fueled a new national past time of going out to dinner, which took off in the following decades. There was also an area devoted to 1920s and 30s Fifth Avenue complete with furniture, fashion, tableware, toys, glass, and silver in art deco style. Described as “Millionaire’s Row,” Fifth Avenue is more than a street in Manhattan; it is the pinnacle of the American luxury and style that New York City itself is most famous for. 

At the end of the exhibit dedicated to NYC, there was a room with remnants from the 9/11 Twin Towers attack. The artifacts included pieces of the buildings as well as a burned NYFD fire truck. I often think of 9/11 as my generation’s Pearl Harbor. I was only 6 when it happened, but I will remember that day for the rest of my life. It was not an easy exhibit to walk through, but I was glad that the state honored the memory of the victims by including a trailer full of photos and memories placed there by loved ones.

The last exhibit was by far my favorite. It was the smallest room of all, but it was packed with a collection of antique fire trucks. It was really cool to see all of the quirky machines that were once used to fight fire, and if you were interested in that sort of thing, I would definitely recommend a visit.

After a long visit to the museum, Rob and I trudged back to the car and drove toward the Capitol. The New York State House was one of the most expensive government buildings of its time, and the most expensive Capitol building in the United States, completed in 1899 to the tune of $25,000,000 dollars. That equals $500,000,000 today, which is even more expensive than the US Capitol building. New York’s is one of the few Capitols that does not have an exterior dome, and it is one of two Capitol buildings with a semi-gothic design.

Once again, we circled the building for several minutes looking for a parking space. We got lucky and found a spot right across the street, parked, and went inside. After complying with security measures, we went to the tours and information desk to pick up a self-guided pamphlet. We began by the Senate staircase, carefully reading all of the informative resources they had available. The stone staircase soared upward towards a massive skylight many floors above, with many Gothic styled carvings and gargoyle-like creatures adorning every arch and railing. It was truly beautiful, and I was beginning to understand why this building had been so expensive.

Next we went to the hall of flags, which is a feature in many other Capitols as well. This was a large room filled with battle flags stacked in glass cases, wrapped in protective cloths to prevent light damage. I was consistently impressed by the amount of educational displays giving all sorts of information about the history of the artifacts and the building. The trend continued as we entered the Governor’s Reception Room, which is home to one of the most impressive murals that we have seen on the trip so far. William De Leftwich Dodge was commissioned to paint murals that would illustrate the room’s military theme. They took 5 years to complete and were installed by Dodge and his assistant Melio Bellisio in 1929. The mural depicts many conflicts in our history, including those between different ethnicities in colonial times, such as Indian-French, French-Dutch, Dutch-English, and English-American. Some of the other panels show the first Five Iroquois Nations (Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, Mohawk, and Cayuga), and others depict specific American battles like Gettysburg. The masterpiece is so large that it is difficult to photograph, so you definitely need to see it in person to truly get the full impression of it. This amazing mural makes up for the lack of other paintings throughout the building.

Next we went to the Hall of Governors and then to the Senate Chamber. We tried all of the doors in the gallery, but unfortunately, they were all locked. I managed to take a picture through the glass, but it definitely does not do it justice. Most Capitols leave the galleries unlocked during the day or provide some sort of viewing area inside the room so that the public can see it whenever they wish. I was disappointed that I was unable to see the room in all its grandeur, but luckily the General Assembly’s chamber was open. There was a sign in the gallery asking people not to take pictures of the congressman while they were in session, so I kept my lens angled above their heads. The room was beautifully decorated, one of the most beautiful chambers that I have seen so far. Wooden, carved arches connected all of the columns, and the designs on the walls were colorful and exquisite. This Capitol truly is the hall of arches. I hadn’t seen a single room without them!

Next we went to the Great Western Staircase, which is a massive, ornately carved staircase on the Capitol’s west end. On the lower floors of the staircase, workers were permitted to carve the faces of their family members and loved ones on the walls and corners of the staircase. Those faces are the most representative feature of any Capitol building that I have seen thus far, because they are literally the people of New York. So often there are portraits of Governors and Speakers, but there isn’t another Capitol that has the faces of its people carved into the walls. It is this staircase that solidifies New York’s Capitol as one of my top five favorite Capitol buildings. (It’s impossible to choose just one, they’re all so different and beautiful in their own way!)

Our last stop was at the legislative library, which can sometimes be one of the more ornate rooms in state Capitols. This library had some of the only other murals in the building besides the masterpiece in the Governor’s Reception Room. The ceiling was painted pale green, and three large chandeliers brightened the space. It was peaceful, but there weren’t very many actual books. The space is now largely used as office space, after a major fire in 1911 destroyed the library and most of the west end of the building.

We left the Capitol feeling as though we had learned more about the state of New York than we ever expected. Both the museum and the Capitol had the most extensive informative displays of any other state, and I could understand why the state had put so much effort into the museum to accompany a State House of this magnificence. Now I know how five architects could spend $25 million dollars by 1899 building this impressive structure, and it certainly paid off. This building will remain for centuries as a testament to New York and American history, just as with the ancients and their temples.

The next day we packed up our belongings, and drove to Hartford, Connecticut.