The latticework metal spire that stands behind the St. Vincent de Paul parish center may look a bit like modern sculpture, but that’s not why it’s here. It’s one of the few things that remain of one of Albany’s most extraordinary educational experiments.
One of the most fondly remembered addresses in all of the Pine Hills, this stately Victorian was home to a branch of the Albany Public Library for many years. Well-worn stairs and the smell of books -- for a few generations of Pine Hills children, this was a second home.
The cars were souped-up stagecoaches fitted to run on the rails. The locomotive was the DeWitt Clinton, one of the earliest ever built in America. And the passengers? They didn't know what they were in for.
Silhouette artist William Brown was a passenger on the 1831 railroad journey. Afterwards, he made this piece depicting the locomotive and first two cars.
Small businesses bring heart and identity to the Pine Hills neighborhood. It was that spirit of community that resident Constance Dwyer Heiden tried to capture in the mural she designed for the side of Mack's Drugs — now a CVS — on South Main Avenue in 1977.
Now the mural she created as a tribute to the landmarks of her childhood has become a neighborhood landmark itself.
The latticework metal spire that stands behind the St. Vincent de Paul parish center may look a bit like modern sculpture, but that’s not why it’s here. It’s one of the few things that remain of one of Albany’s most extraordinary educational experiments.
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Small businesses bring heart and identity to the Pine Hills neighborhood. It was that spirit of community that resident Constance Dwyer Heiden tried to capture in the mural she designed for the side of Mack's Drugs — now a CVS — on South Main Avenue in 1977.
