Lafayette Park Historic District
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Lafayette Park Historic District
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Elk Street row houses, 2011
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| Location | Albany, NY |
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| Coordinates | 42°39′11″N 73°45′24″W / 42.65306°N 73.75667°WCoordinates: 42°39′11″N 73°45′24″W / 42.65306°N 73.75667°W |
| Area | 36 acres (15 ha) |
| Architect | Multiple |
| NRHP Reference # | 78001837 |
| Added to NRHP | November 15, 1978 |
The Lafayette Park Historic District is located in central Albany, New York, United States. It includes the park and the combination of large government buildings and small rowhouses on the neighboring streets. In 1978 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Many of its contributing properties are themselves listed on the National Register. One of them, the New York State Capitol, is a National Historic Landmark as well. City hall and the building housing Albany County government, along with the state's highest court and the offices of its Education Department. The Episcopal Diocese of Albany also has its cathedral within the district.
While the state capitol building has always been located in the district, for most of the 19th century the neighborhood was best known for the townhouses on Elk Street, one of the most desirable addresses in the city at that time. Many politicians, including some of the state's governors and presidents Martin Van Buren and Franklin D. Roosevelt, lived there at different times, and Henry James would recall the neighborhood from his childhood visits to his aunt as "vaguely portentous, like beasts of the forest not wholly exorcised." Two significant technological accomplishments—the development of the first working electromagnet and the construction of the first cantilevered arch bridge—also took place within it. Henry Hobson Richardson, Philip Hooker and Marcus T. Reynolds are among the architects represented by buildings in the district.
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