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1895 Map of Albany

Name: 1895 Topographic Map of Albany
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1895
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1895

About this map

Albany is depicted here as a dense urban core at a critical river and rail junction during the late nineteenth century. The city's growth is framed by its immediate surroundings, including West Albany and the industrial activity at Kenwood along the Normans Kill. To the west, the landscape transitions from the flat river valley into the prominent elevations of Countryman Hill and Wolf Hill, revealing a network of smaller mill towns and agrarian settlements like French Mills and Guilderland Center.

The infrastructure of the era is defined by the heavy presence of the New York Central and Hudson River R. R. and the West Shore Railroad, which carved paths through communities such as Voorheesville and Slingerland. Along the river, a series of islands including Westerlo Island and Papsanee Island illustrate the pre-industrial shoreline before modern navigational channelization, while inland, family-named locales like Mc Kownville and Becker Corners indicate the early residential clusters of Albany County.