Rensselaer County Historical Society

Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately 150 miles (240 km) north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs. As of 2020, roughly 1,300 undergraduate students and 1,200 graduate students are enrolled.

The Central Troy Historic District is an irregularly shaped, 96-acre (39 ha) area of downtown Troy, New York, United States. It has been described as "one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the [country]" with nearly 700 properties in a variety of architectural styles from the early 19th to mid-20th centuries. These include most of Russell Sage College, one of two privately owned urban parks in New York, and two National Historic Landmarks. Visitors ranging from the Duke de la Rochefoucauld to Philip Johnson have praised aspects of it. Martin Scorsese used parts of downtown Troy as a stand-in for 19th-century Manhattan in The Age of Innocence.In 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), superseding five smaller historic districts that had been listed on the Register in the early 1970s. (Two years later, in 1988, the extension of the previous River Street Historic District north of Federal Street was added separately to the NRHP as the Northern River Street Historic District.) In late 2014, the State Historic Preservation Board began considering an adjustment to the district's boundaries that would be a net expansion, particularly in its southeast; that increase was made official in 2016. Most of the buildings, structures and objects within the district contribute to its historic character. Two of Troy's four National Historic Landmarks, the Gurley Building and Troy Savings Bank, are located within its boundaries. Nine other buildings are listed on the Register in their own right. Among the architects represented are Alexander Jackson Davis, George B. Post, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers. There are many buildings designed by the regionally significant architect Marcus F. Cummings. The downtown street plan was borrowed from Philadelphia, and one neighborhood, Washington Square, was influenced by London's squares of its era. The district reflects Troy's evolution from its origins as a Hudson River port into an early industrial center built around textile manufacture and steelmaking. During this period it was rebuilt twice in the wake of two devastating fires, resulting in its mix of architecture styles. After the decline of its industries in the mid-20th century, downtown Troy was threatened by urban renewal efforts that galvanized local preservationists, leading to the early NRHP listings and eventually the creation of the district. Today, the city of Troy protects and preserves the district with special provisions in its zoning and programs which, with assistance from the state of New York, encourage and subsidize property owners who maintain and restore historic buildings. These efforts have paid off with increased attention from developers, the revival of much of the area, and praise from visitors to the city. With the collaboration of nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy is hoping to make the district a center for the development of cutting-edge technologies, a "Silicon Valley of the 19th century."

The Hart-Cluett Mansion is located at 57 Second Street in Troy, New York, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and is a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District created in 1986. Since the 1950s it, and the Carr Building next door, has been the main office of the Rensselaer County Historical Society, The house is open to the public as a historic house museum. Built in 1827 from a most likely created by architect Martin E. Thompson, of New York City, it is a Federal style townhouse with decorated marble and limestone facing considered one of the best and most intact houses in that style in the city of Troy. The house was built by John Bard Colgrove, who moved to Troy, NY in 1826 to oversee the construction of the Hart House. Immediately after constructing the Hart House, Colgrove built the first Rensselaer County Court House (1828–31). It was constructed as a gift for his only child, Betsey Howard Hart, and her husband, Richard P. Hart, by wealthy New York City merchant and banker William Howard, done in a style similar to contemporary mansions there. Those homes have since been demolished, making Troy the only extant place visitors can experience an early 19th-century New York City mansion.In the late 19th century it became the property of another local businessman, George Cluett, who expanded it in the early 20th century. In 1910, the property was sold to his nephew Albert Cluett and his wife Caroline. Caroline Cluett donated the house to the Historical Society in 1952.

Congregation Berith Sholom ("Covenant of Peace") is a synagogue in Troy, New York. The synagogue is the oldest continuously used synagogue in the state of New York, the second oldest house of worship in the state outside of the city of New York, and one of the oldest synagogue buildings in the United States.

Pumpkin House, also known as Hart Tenant House, is a historic home in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. It was built in about 1820 and is a two-story, three-bay Federal period frame residence with a high pitched gable roof parallel to the street. It has a large, two-story rear wing built in two stages, in about 1830 and about 1870. It was restored in the 1990s.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, is a performance space in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The music hall, renowned for its acoustics and an Odell concert organ, is operated by a not-for-profit organization. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989 for its architecture as one of the finest surviving 19th-century auditoriums.

The Rice Building, originally known as the Hall Building for Benjamin Homer Hall who built it, is a triangular historic high Victorian Gothic structure with Moorish architecture window arches in Troy, New York. Built in 1871 for attorney, author, and poet Benjamin Homer Hall who served as City Clerk of Troy, it is located at 216 River Street on the corner with First Street. It has been attributed to the firm of Vaux and Withers, the partnership between Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers after the death in a steamboat accident of Andrew Jackson Downing. More recent scholarship by a professor suggests George B. Post was the building's architect. It is part of the Central Troy Historic District. Originally 6 stories with 3 towers on the roof, a fire damaged the top floor and it was removed along with the towers. In more recent decades, the building fell into disrepair after it was foreclosed on in the 1980s. An effort to save it was launched and it was restored in the 1990s. A nonprofit entity called Rice Building Incorporated was created to turn it into a business incubator center. With support from State Senator Joseph Bruno, New York State provided $2 million for the project. The architecture firm Lepera & Ward headed the project. Ganem Contracting was also involved in the project and photographed the work and many architectural details. The origins of the name Rice Building are not known.

The Cannon Building in Troy, New York is located on Broadway between First and State streets. It is the oldest building on Monument Square. It was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis and built in 1835. In 1970 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District, listed on the Register in 1986. Davis, who collaborated with Ithiel Town on the building, used the then-popular Greek Revival style to produce one of the rare surviving large-scale commercial buildings in that style. After two fires in the years after the Civil War, a mansard roof, usually associated with that era's Second Empire style, was added to the top of the building to create an unusual combination. It continues to be used as a retail-office building, although a developer is redoing the upper floors as an extended-stay hotel.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Troy, New York) is a war monument in Monument Square, at Broadway and 2nd Street in Troy, New York, United States. It honors those from Rensselaer County who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. The monument is a contributing object in Central Troy Historic District.

The McCarthy Building is located on River Street on the west side of Monument Square in Troy, New York, United States. It was built in 1904 by Peter McCarthy, president of Troy Waste Manufacturing Co., and remains in use as a commercial building. In 1970 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, along with the nearby Cannon Building. Since 1986 it has also been a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District. It is five stories tall and three bays wide. The eastern (front) facade is done in terra cotta with details in iron and glass. The latter two materials are combined to create the building's most distinctive feature, the proscenium-style arched window across the bottom two stories.The building was constructed in 1904 during an early 20th-century building boom in downtown Troy. It originally housed the R.C. Reynolds home furnishing store. The store's grand opening on September 16, 1904 was attended by a crowd of thousands. An article in the Troy Times praised the building calling it "one of the most attractive show buildings in the city". It was almost demolished during urban renewal efforts in the late 1960s, but protests from residents and its listing on the Register helped to save it. In the 2000s, it became home to Light & Power Communications Ltd., a Capital District media company. In 2020, the McCarthy Building was converted to luxury apartments.

Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital District. The city is one of the three major centers for the Albany metropolitan statistical area, which has a population of 1,170,483. At the 2020 census, the population of Troy was 51,401. Troy's motto is Ilium fuit, Troja est, which means "Ilium was, Troy is".Today, Troy is home to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the oldest private engineering and technical university in the US, founded in 1824. It is also home to Emma Willard School, an all-girls high school started by Emma Willard, a women's education activist, who sought to create a school for girls equal to their male counterparts. Due to the confluence of major waterways and a geography that supported water power, the American industrial revolution took hold in this area, making Troy reputedly the fourth-wealthiest city in America around the turn of the 20th century. Troy, therefore, is noted for a wealth of Victorian architecture downtown and elaborate private homes in various neighborhoods. Several churches have a concentrated collection of stained-glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Troy is also home to the world-renowned Troy Music Hall, which dates from the 1870s and is said to have superb acoustics in a combination of restored and well-preserved performance space. The area had long been occupied by the Mahican Indian tribe, but Dutch settlement began in the mid-17th century. The patroon, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, called the region Pafraets Dael, after his mother. The Dutch colony was conquered by the English in 1664, and in 1707, Derick van der Heyden purchased a farm near today's downtown area. In 1771, Abraham Lansing had his farm in today's Lansingburgh laid out into lots. Sixteen years later, Van der Heyden's grandson Jacob had his extensive holdings surveyed and laid out into lots, naming the new village Vanderheyden. In 1789, Troy adopted its present name following a vote of the people. Troy was incorporated as a town two years later, and extended east across the county to the Vermont line, including Petersburgh. In 1796, Troy became a village and in 1816, it became a city. Lansingburgh, to the north, became part of Troy in 1900.

Proctor's Theater is located on Fourth Street (northbound US 4) in Troy, New York, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and is a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District, added to the Register in 1986. It was built in 1914 for vaudeville performances by Capital District entrepreneur Frederick Freeman Proctor, who also built another theater with his name in nearby Schenectady. Its double-balcony auditorium made it easily adaptable for showing motion pictures when that entertainment came into fashion soon after it opened. The building is credited to architect Arland W. Johnson.In the late 1970s it closed. Since then it has been through several owners, including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), which have had various plans, including renovating it into office space or reusing it as a theater. In 2014, it was announced that Columbia Development would be renovating the building for the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce.As of September 2018, the building has been repurposed into a modern office space behind the preserved façade. Current tenants include the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Christopher Brian Salon.