The origins of Whitehall Rd. are somewhat murky, but it may originally have been a narrow track through the forest used by the Mahican Indians who lived along the Normanskill Creek. Its use as a dirt road for early colonial settlers probably dates back to the early 1700s. We know that about 1750 there was a barracks, stable and drill ground constructed for British troops during the French and Indian War near corner of Delaware Ave. (It’s location in old genealogies is identified as 150 yards west of Delaware Ave., on Whitehall Rd.)
In the late 1750s the site was enlarged by Col. John Bradstreet. Bradstreet was dispatched to Albany as deputy quartermaster for the British forces in North America. It was one of two storage depots – the other was in Halifax Nova Scotia, but Albany was the closest spot to the upstate frontier in the war with the French in Canada. (That’s probably when it acquired the name Whitehall. At that time Whitehall in London was the home of British government offices. The Albany site was often the home of British military government – where British commanders in North American, Lord Loudon and then Lord Amherst, and their officers often stayed while in Albany.
Bradstreet became great friends with General Philip Schuyler. The route from the Schuyler home on South Pearl and State St. and then new Mansion in the Pastures, would have lead down to “Whitehall Rd.” and then west to what is now Delaware Ave. (It became Second Ave. circa 1873.). It was the route used by Bradford and Schuyler used to travel to each other homes. The area west of Delaware Ave, intersection was called the Normanskill Rd. until about 1800.
At some point Bradstreet purchased the property from the Patroon (along with about another 20,000 acres scattered throughout the area) since it was part of the Manor of Rennselaerwyck. Despite his close relationships with American colonists, Bradstreet sided with the British in the Revolutionary War, and departed for New York City, where he died in 1774.
The property passed to John Bradstreet Schuyler (son of Philip Schuyler) in Bradstreet’s will. During the Revolution is was thought to be a hideout for Tories who came down from the Helderberg Mountains. Supposedly, this was the area where the British attackers massed before they invaded the Schuyler Mansion, attempting to kidnap General Philip Schuyler in 1781 (the raid that left the gouge in the Mansion staircase).
In 1789 the Broadstreet house and property were purchased by Leonard Gansevoort. He was from an old, and Albany Dutch aristocratic family and had amassed great wealth. He had a long career in politics and the law, had been a member of the Continental Congress, was the brother of the Revolutionary War General Peter Gansevoort (the “Hero of Fort Stanwix”), and the great uncle of author Herman Melville. Documents indicate that the legal work for the purchase was probably handled by Alexander Hamilton.
After a large fire swept through much of downtown Albany in 1793 destroying the Gansevoort home, they moved to the Whitehall property, Gansevoort enlarged it quite substantially, turning it into a proper mansion, designed for entertaining on a large scale. It was “statement” home meant to impress. It was immense (supposedly (100 ‘ x 70’), with two wings and four verandas on two stories running front and back. The Great Hall gave way to a grand dining room, a family dining room and a library; the other wing held reception rooms and a grand ballroom. Off to the side was the “Dood Kamer”, which, according to Dutch custom, was a room reserved for laying out the dead. The second floor including bedrooms and family sitting rooms. The Whitehall “Palace” as it came to be known was richly paneled with mahogany and other exotic woods. It was filled with imported china, silver, and silk and damask for drapes and upholstery. There were formal and wild gardens, riding trails and extensive farmland in the thousand acres surrounding the property. It was a self-contained compound, with many out buildings and stables. (Think of the historical documentaries about British grand houses – that was the Whitehall Palace. ) And to run the vast Palace, there were, in 1800, 13 people enslaved by Gansevoort.
In 1810 Gansevoort died and the property passed on to his daughter Magdalena, married to Jacob Ten Eyck. She continued her father’s lavish lifestyle for the next 20 or so years. There are stories of streams of carriages of the Albany wealthy making their way over the Bethlehem Turnpike (Delaware Ave.) to glittering events at the Palace. As Magadelena and Jacob grew older they remained in the house, but started to sell off their land. Many of the farmers who purchased the land over the years were German (Kobler, Friebel, Etling, Klapp, Werker and Swarts. If you look carefully you can still see 3 or 4 older residences in the neighborhood that were original farm houses.) By the mid-1830s the street name appeared on maps appears as Whitehall Rd, and extended to the New Scotland Plank Rd.
In 1883 the Palace burned to the ground; by then it was referred to as the Ten Eyck Mansion.
A smaller house was built at 73 Whitehall Rd., surrounded by an area then known as Ten Eyck Park/Whitehall Park. This area was bounded by what is now Matilda St., Ten Eyck Ave., and Whitehall Rd. In 1909 the building was the Washington Hotel, but has been a residence for the past century.
By 1911 the Whitehall Park Development for “working men” was established on Sard and McDonald Roads, and residential development in the Whitehall Rd. began in earnest and continued steadily for the next 50 years. Within 5 years that area, which had been part of the town of Bethlehem was annexed into the city of Albany. It would not be until the 1960s, after a number of annexations through the decades, that both sides of Whitehall Rd. from Delaware Ave. to New Scotland Ave. would become part of the city.
Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor
On October 18, 1777 General Burgoyne (“Gentleman Johnny”), the British commander at the Battle of Saratoga, surrendered to the American General, Horatio Gates. Approximately 5,800 troops were taken prisoner, mostly British and Hessians. The Hessians were mercenaries- soldiers from the German State of Hesse-Cassel, furnished to the British for the American war under a financial agreement between with the Landgrave (sort of the Prince) of Hesse-Cassel) and the English government.
On the same day about 5,000 British and German troops set off for Boston where they were to be held as prisoners of war. They became known as the “Convention Army” – based on the conventions (terms) of the surrender. They marched south to Kinderhook, bypassing Albany, and then east to Massachusetts. There are many stories about British and Hessian soldiers falling out of line along the route of march and becoming part of the population of Columbia County (where there was a large Palatine German population) and along what is Route 20 in Massachusetts today. (America has a rich and diverse gene pool.)
After the surrender General Schuyler offered the hospitality of his Albany home to General Burgoyne and Baron von Riedesel (commander of the Hessian troops), as well as the Baroness and their 3 children who had accompanied him into the fight (The Baroness was quite astonished at such kindness, since British troops had burned Schuyler’s Saratoga home to the ground during the Battle). They left Saratoga on the 17th of October under a guard of 200 men led by Colonel Quackenbush and after 2 days reached Albany.
General Burgoyne (more than a bit of a bon vivant) enjoyed his stay at the Schuyler Mansion after his long trek though the wilderness from Canada and was impressed by General Schuyler’s wine cellar and the graciousness and geniality of the General and Mrs. Schuyler. Some even say that the charms of General Schuyler’s daughter Eliza, who would later marry Alexander Hamilton, caught the eye of the well-known playboy and sophisticate. Accounts vary on the length of his stay; it could have been as short as several days or as long as fortnight before he was on his way to Boston along with the Baron. The Baroness remained longer at the Mansion and departed with her children around the end of October.
In 1782 George Washington came to Albany. His visit was a big deal; the General finally accepted a long standing invitation from the Mayor. He came up the River by sloop from Newburgh on June 27, arriving at 6pm and was met by Mayor Abraham Ten Broeck, city aldermen and other city officials. The church bells in the city rang for 2 hours followed by resounding booms from a 13 cannon salute from Fort Frederick. The Common Council ordered the City to be illuminated and the Town Crier to notify residents of the General’s presence. Washington proceeded by carriage from the docks (just above the Pastures, about where Madison and Quay St. meet today) to the Stadt Huys (City Hall) on Broadway and Hudson (that would be the southern tip of the area on which the SUNY Admin building sits).
At the Stadt Huys he was presented with a gold box and the “Freedom of the City” (tribute bestowed by a city council rooted in ancient English tradition).
After the ceremony the General proceeded by carriage to the Schuyler Mansion for dinner and a glittering reception. The next day he inspected Fort Frederick, at the top of State St. hill (where the Capitol is located today) and then came down the hill to address the faithful of the Dutch Reformed Church (a/k/a the Blockhouse Church) situated at State and Broadway. That night he attended a dinner a Hugh Denniston’s Tavern at Beaver and Green. The next morning he was off early to Saratoga, accompanied by phalanx of soldiers for meetings in the environs of Saratoga and the Mohawk River with the Tuscaroras and Oneidas, returned to Albany, and then departed for his headquarters down in the Hudson Valley.
On his next visit in July 1783 visit Washington arrived again from Newburgh and was accompanied by Governor George Clinton. They were honored at a reception at Hugh Denniston’s Tavern (apparently the hot spot of Albany). The General delivered a speech in which he said, “.. I cannot but take a particular interest in the anticipation of the increase in prosperity and greatness of this Ancient and respectable City of Albany..”. The Governor and the General then walked with General Schuyler up Pearl St. for dinner at the home of Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (brother of Mrs. Schuyler) on east side of N. Pearl (probably close to Pine St.).
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