Neighborhoods of Albany, New York
Arbor Hill is an historic neighborhood in northeastern Albany near the Hudson River. Arbor Hill encompasses the area from Clinton Avenue (formerly called Patroon Street) north to the Livingston Avenue Railroad Bridge (where North Albany begins) and from the Hudson River west to Henry Johnson Boulevard. Arbor Hill was outside Albany's first boundaries as set up in the Dongan Charter of 1686. The original name of the area was Colonie. Incorporated as a village on April 9, 1804, Arbor Hill was annexed by the city in 1815, at which time Patroon Street became Clinton Avenue. The name "Arbor Hill" comes from the nickname of the Ten Broeck Mansion, an important cultural and historical destination in the neighborhood. Arbor Hill includes Dudley Heights, a residential neighborhood north of Livingston Avenue that was the first location of the Dudley Observatory. Arbor Hill contains many other historic and cultural spots including the Palace Theatre, Quackenbush House, Church of the Holy Innocents, the Stephen and Harriet Myers House, and the former St. Joseph's Church. Demographically, Arbor Hill is predominantly African-American.
Arbor Hill Historic District–Ten Broeck Triangle
While the former burying ground site was made into a park instead of being built on, construction on other parcels increased. The year the burying ground was moved, 41 Ten Broeck Street, the earliest dated house on that street after the mansion, was erected. The brick rowhouses at 15–23 and 35–39 Ten Broeck followed as well. In 1848, the neighborhood regained some of its original prestige when Thomas Worth Olcott, a prominent banker, bought the Ten Broeck Mansion and formally renamed it Arbor Hill. He and his family expanded it over the next several years. The King Building, an elaborate Greek Revival duplex, was built over four years in the 1850s at 27–29 North Swan in front of the archway that provided access to the mansion's grounds on the rear.