The Evolution ot the Street—IV. 
the student of 
street evolu¬ 
tion. The town 
was important. 
The art of 
building had 
gone so far here 
that the street 
was lined on 
either side with 
struct ures. 
Many of them 
were of brick, 
and most of them were three stories high, 
exclusive of the gable attic and the base¬ 
ment. They were large, costly, pretentious. 
'They indicated generous purses, generous 
desires, generous expectations for the future 
of the town. But the street, on a hillside 
as it was and very broad, was still utterly 
primitive. It was unpaved, and heavy rains 
or melting snows had washed great gulleys in 
it. There was no sidewalk. From house- 
front to house-front, for the houses were 
built flush with the street, the thoroughfare 
was only a bare dirt way. A single street 
furnishing, in the form of a crude wooden post 
with provision for a lamp at its top, stood at 
the crest of the 
steepest part of the 
hill, — a forerunner 
of all the compli¬ 
cated utilities of the 
modern street. At 
the foot ot this part 
of the hill stood the 
church, blocking the 
way, but curiously 
set crosswise, as it 
feeling the necessity 
of presenting a sharp 
edge rather than a 
broadside to what¬ 
ever came down the 
hill. On the wide 
and little - traveled 
street some of the 
work of the town 
was done. 
The same street 
in 1902, an even 
century later, while 
by no means well 
developed—as 
streets are 
judged today 
—shows a won¬ 
derful transfor¬ 
mation. Re¬ 
grading,though 
not abolishing 
the hill, has 
vastly lessened 
its rigors. 
There are side¬ 
walks, curbs 
and roadway. The walks are stone flags and 
the road is paved with granite blocks. A 
few trees that have been planted at intervals 
have lived and have grown to comeliness. 
There are substantial buildings on both sides, 
far costlier and larger than before, and now 
showing in several cases a conscious striving 
for beautiful or stunning effects. The Dutch 
church has been removed from the middle of 
the road and a new and graceful Gothic edifice 
(Episcopalian) now raises tower and spire at 
the side, among the other buildings. The 
street is lighted by electricity. Its whole 
width is dedicated to the travel, and a trolley 
line substitutes a cheap, easy and frequent 
means of rapid tran¬ 
sit for the former 
toilsome journey. 
With recollection 
of the underground 
construction, of the 
sewer beneath and 
the hard strong 
pavement and the 
unseen mains that 
distribute gas and 
water to every 
house, it would seem 
that the evolution of 
the way had pro¬ 
ceeded with notable 
rapidity during the 
short hundred years. 
And yet State Street 
in Albanv is far from 
that tvpeofdevelop- 
ment which many 
examples picture as 
a practicable ideal. 
I he ugly wooden 
STATE STREET HILL, ALBANY, IN I 802 
( Photographed , by Augustus Pruyn, from a painting') 
STATE STREET HILL, ALBANY, IN 1 902 
(From a photograph by Augustus Pruyn ) 
58 
