The yellow -- and red -- brick roads
Well, actually, they're streets.
Today's moment of street surfaces: One of the quirks of the Albany street grid is that there's a small sub unit of streets uptown that are all brick, much of it set in a herringbone pattern, in the tiny sub-neighborhood bounded by Central Ave, Manning Blvd, and North Allen.
Specifically, it's a stretch of West Lawrence street by the St. Anne's Institute, along with three side streets. It's mostly red brick, but there's also a few stretches of a pale yellow. You can see them on a satellite view of a map.
We've thought this was kind of odd in a fun way, like that tiny section holds some sort of secret or meaning. And we've wondered about the backstory, but haven't been able to turn anything up.
Maybe you know?
Update: " Reference Librarian - Albany Public Library" comes through in the comments with some backstory on the streets. A clip:
[Albany city historian Tony Opalka] remembered that this part of Albany once organized an "Inner Brick Square" neighborhood association! We looked through our clippings file for any information about "Inner Brick Square" and sure enough, we found a folder describing this neighborhood association, which was formed in November 1978. This rectangular neighborhood, bound by North Allen St., Bradford St. West Lawrence, and Manning Blvd., lists "maintaining our Brick Streets" as one of its "major concerns." A majority of the blocks in this zone are still brick, so it looks like they were successful. This could explain why this neighborhood continues to showcase its red and yellow brick roads!
(Thanks!)
Earlier on AOA: The Yellow Brick Road
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Comments
My street (off of South Lake) has red brick paving just under the asphalt, and I can see some brick on Lake Ave in a few potholes. It seems to have been the standard surfacing material outside of the city center.
... said Eric Scheirer Stott on Apr 3, 2014 at 5:16 AM | link
In 1950 it was scheduled for re-paving the following year. As of right now, it has been re-scheduled for 2039, pending available funding of course.
... said Ryan on Apr 3, 2014 at 8:03 AM | link
My childhood home was on Kent st, one of the side roads with yellow bricks. Really wish I knew the back story. I never even questioned it at the time.
... said Arielle on Apr 3, 2014 at 8:30 AM | link
You can sometimes see bits of a red herringbone pattern of brick under the pavement down in Sheridan Hollow. When my uncle lived down at Sheridan and Swan in the 70s, some of the bricks down there still hadn't been paved over.
... said Paula on Apr 3, 2014 at 9:27 AM | link
I highly recommend driving something with 4WD with a high clearance if you decide to take a drive by St. Anne's. I used to go down that way in a little Civic and more than once I thought I'd be swallowed up by a pothole. Besides that, the streets are indeed charming. :-)
... said Valerae on Apr 3, 2014 at 10:39 AM | link
Librarians in the Pruyn Collection of Albany History at the Albany Public Library looked into this herringbone mystery, with significant help from Tony Opalka, Albany City Historian, who also works in the Pruyn Room. The excellent book, Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City, mentions that the houses on Kent Street, one of the yellow brick streets near St. Anne’s, were built by contractor Ulysses G. Stockwell in 1909. Stockwell also converted the Amsdell Brewery in Center Square to the Knickerbocker Apartments. These Kent Street houses are made of alternating red and yellow brick, so we thought maybe the yellow bricks on the street were created, or maintained to compliment the houses?
Tony set us straight. He doesn’t think the yellow and red brick roads are related to the red and yellow character of the Kent Street houses. Red and yellow brick roads were the norm throughout Albany at the time, and it’s probably just a coincidence that the houses share the same materials as the street. Most Albany blocks have been covered in asphalt, but why not this neighborhood?
Tony thinks he knows why. He remembered that this part of Albany once organized an “Inner Brick Square†neighborhood association! We looked through our clippings file for any information about “Inner Brick Square†and sure enough, we found a folder describing this neighborhood association, which was formed in November 1978. This rectangular neighborhood, bound by North Allen St., Bradford St. West Lawrence, and Manning Blvd., lists “maintaining our Brick Streets†as one of its “major concerns.†A majority of the blocks in this zone are still brick, so it looks like they were successful. This could explain why this neighborhood continues to showcase its red and yellow brick roads!
... said Reference Librarian - Albany Public Library on Apr 3, 2014 at 12:07 PM | link
@ Reference Librarian: Great job providing this information and showcasing the tremendous value of libraries and librarians!
... said Jay on Apr 3, 2014 at 12:54 PM | link
@Reference Librarian for the win! I hadn't heard or thought of "inner brick square" in nearly 30 years. But yeah, now that you mention it, I totally remember my elderly neighbors at the time talking about it!! It was a source of pride.
... said Arielle on Apr 3, 2014 at 9:01 PM | link