Arbor Hill Historic District–Ten Broeck Triangle
During the Great Migration of the 1920s, many of the African Americans who came north to Albany from the Southern states settled in Arbor Hill, an area that had been one of the first where their predecessors had settled in the city It came to be regarded as more desirable among newcomers than their other destination, the South End. Residents of that neighborhood often moved to Arbor Hill after they had made some money. African Americans displaced by the construction of what is now the State Department of Education Building in 1912 also resettled in Arbor Hill. As early as 1922 many of the city's prominent African-American institutions and organizations, such as churches and social clubs, were located in Arbor Hill. This growth led to the name being applied to the larger area it presently refers to, extending north to the railroad tracks, west to Northern Boulevard (now Henry Johnson Boulevard) and south to Sheridan Avenue.
Arbor Hill Historic District–Ten Broeck Triangle
All but three of the 220 buildings in the district are contributing properties to its historic character. Of those 217, the vast majority are houses. One, the Ten Broeck Mansion, is individually listed on the Register as well. Some others have distinctive characteristics within the district.
In 2003 two planning firms hired by the city sought citizen input and created the Arbor Hill Citizen Advisory Committee, which developed a plan to improve life in Arbor Hill as a whole. Among the aspects considered was how the historic district could benefit the neighborhood's future. The Ten Broeck Triangle, it noted, was one of three areas of Arbor Hill where property values did not suffer from the neighborhood's bad reputation. "It is not unusual to
see an abandoned building next to a home in which a property owner has invested $300,000 or more," in the triangle, the report said. "Clearly, to the extent that neighborhood-wide problems are alleviated or solved, property owners in the Ten Broeck neighborhood will greatly benefit and market values can be expected to escalate rapidly."