Albany Audio Walking Tour

Highlights

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  Empire State Plaza

  Ahead of you spreads a complex of state government buildings known as the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, or simply the Empire State Plaza — sometimes still called the South Mall or Albany Mall. This is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York.

• 
  New York State Capitol

  Your view here takes in the New York State Capitol, seat of New York's state government, set in Capitol Park along State Street as part of the Empire State Plaza complex. This is the building that houses the New York State Legislature and that was completed in 1899 at a cost of US$25 million — equivalent to $794 million in modern dollars — making it the most expensive government building of its time.

• 
  New York State Executive Mansion

  Governors have lived at 138 Eagle Street since 1875, and the New York State Executive Mansion faces you now. The house you face was built in 1856 as a private home in the Italianate style for banker Thomas Olcott.

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  Schuyler Mansion

  Philip Schuyler's brick mansion at 32 Catherine Street in Albany is the Georgian house you have reached. This Georgian-style house, now a museum and an official National Historic Landmark, was constructed from 1761 to 1765 for Philip Schuyler.

• 
  USS Slater

  Afloat on the Hudson River, the USS Slater, a Cannon-class destroyer escort that served the United States Navy and later the Hellenic (Greek) Navy, waits for you. Following service during World War II she was transferred to Greece and renamed Aetos.

All 31 stops

• Empire State Plaza (Downtown Albany)

  Ahead of you spreads a complex of state government buildings known as the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, or simply the Empire State…

• New York State Capitol (Capitol Park)

  Your view here takes in the New York State Capitol, seat of New York's state government, set in Capitol Park along State Street as part…

• Fort Frederick (Capitol Hill)

  Beneath your feet, State Street Hill climbs toward Capitol Hill, ground once claimed entirely by Fort Frederick.

• Cultural Education Center (Empire State Plaza)

  Notice the eleven-story Cultural Education Center rising on Madison Avenue, along the south side of the Empire State Plaza.

• New York State Museum (Empire State Plaza)

  Your entrance point is the New York State Museum on Madison Avenue, attached to the plaza's south side and facing toward the Capitol.

• New York State Library (downtown Albany)

  Somewhere within this building rests a collection whose roots reach back to 1818, when the New York State Library was founded to serve New York's…

• Erastus Corning Tower (Empire State Plaza)

  Rising 589 feet above you, the Erastus Corning Tower is also known as the Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd Tower, or simply the Corning Tower.

• The Egg (Empire State Plaza)

  Your eyes land on The Egg, the unusually shaped performing arts venue in Albany.

• Old Post Office (Downtown Albany)

  At the intersection of State Street and Broadway in Albany, the Old Post Office, also known as the United States Government Building, waits for you.

• Albany City Hall (Albany)

  This stone fortress on Eagle Street holds the seat of government for the city of Albany, New York.

• Tricentennial Park (Albany)

  Picture a 150-car parking lot where this whole block now sits, cleared in 1986 to mark Albany's three hundredth year as an incorporated city.

• Old Albany Academy Building (downtown Albany)

  In front of you rises the old Albany Academy building, a Federal-style brownstone once known as the Joseph Henry Memorial.

• Schuyler Mansion (South End–Groesbeckville)

  Philip Schuyler's brick mansion at 32 Catherine Street in Albany is the Georgian house you have reached.

• Ten Broeck Mansion (Arbor Hill)

  Here in 1797, Elizabeth Ten Broeck and her husband Abraham raised this house on land leased from her brother, the patroon Stephen Van Rensselaer.

• New York State Executive Mansion (Albany)

  Governors have lived at 138 Eagle Street since 1875, and the New York State Executive Mansion faces you now.

• Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District (Center Square/Hudson–Park)

  Between Empire State Plaza and Washington Park spreads a 27-block, 99-acre patchwork known as the Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District, with Hudson/Park forming its eastern half…

• Albany Institute of History & Art (downtown Albany)

  Here on Washington Avenue sits a museum devoted to the history, art, and culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley.

• Washington Park Historic District (Washington Park Historic District)

  Ahead of you spreads Washington Park, Albany's premier green space and stage for countless festivals and gatherings.

• Statue of Robert Burns (Washington Park)

  In Washington Park, a bronze figure of Robert Burns fixes his gaze somewhere past your shoulder.

• Washington Park Lake (Washington Park)

  Here in the southwestern corner of Washington Park, water opens out into a broad, quiet lake.

• Washington Avenue Armory (downtown Albany)

  Isaac Perry's 1890 armory occupies the corner of Washington Avenue and Lark Street: officially the Washington Avenue Armory Sports and Convention Arena, listed on the…

• Lark Street (Center Square)

  This single street threads a long, uneven path through Arbor Hill, Sheridan Hollow, Center Square, Park South and Hudson/Park.

• Buildings at 744–750 Broadway (Fifth Ward)

  Four brick row houses at 744–750 Broadway, sometimes called Broadway Row, line the corner ahead of you.

• Miss Albany Diner (Broadway)

  Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar occupies the 1941 diner at 893 Broadway that you may know as Miss Albany Diner or Lil's Diner.

• Quackenbush House (Albany)

  That double-pitched gable roof marks a house raised in about 1736.

• Albany Pump Station (Quackenbush Square)

  Just off Broadway, a large brick building fills Quackenbush Square, once known as the Quackenbush Pumping Station of the Albany Water Works.

• Hudson River Way (downtown Albany)

  Beneath your feet runs a river of brick and steel: the Hudson River Way, opened in 2002, carrying you from Broadway to the Corning Preserve…

• USS Slater (Albany)

  Afloat on the Hudson River, the USS Slater, a Cannon-class destroyer escort that served the United States Navy and later the Hellenic (Greek) Navy, waits…

• Fort Orange (Albany)

  Picture this ground in 1624, when Fort Orange (Dutch: Fort Oranje) rose here as New Netherland's first permanent Dutch settlement.

• First Church in Albany (Albany)

  Established in 1642 for the Dutch inhabitants of Fort Orange, the congregation's fourth church, the First Reformed Church, also called First Church in Albany or…

• Home Savings Bank Building (downtown Albany)

  Nineteen stories and 267 feet of Art Deco tower rise above you at 11 North Pearl Street: the Home Savings Bank Building, the city's tallest…

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