Lansingburgh Academy
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Lansingburgh Academy
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Lansingburgh Academy, January 2011
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| Location | 27 114th St., Troy, New York |
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| Coordinates | 42°46′22″N 73°40′34″W / 42.77278°N 73.67611°WCoordinates: 42°46′22″N 73°40′34″W / 42.77278°N 73.67611°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Architect | Edward W. Loth |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP Reference # | 76001267 |
| Added to NRHP | October 14, 1976 |
The Lansingburgh Academy was a seminary in Lansingburgh in the U.S. state of New York just north of the city of Troy from the late 18th century to 1900, when the building was leased, and later sold, to the local public school district, used initially as a high school. The building was eventually sold to the local library system, and as of 2007[update], serves as the Lansingburgh Branch of the Troy Public Library.
On December 24, 1795, a group of prominent Lansingburgh residents petitioned the Regents of the State of New York for a charter, for the purpose of establishing a Seminary of Learning to be called The Lansingburgh Academy. They had erected a wooden building on the west side of the village green. This petition was signed by 27 persons. The charter was granted on February 20, 1796 and signed by John Jay. It contained the names of the first sixteen trustees.
The trustees selected as the first principal Rev. Chauncey Lee, a noted educator and the author of The American Accomptant. He invented the dollar sign and first used it in a textbook he had published in Lansingburgh.
By 1820, it was apparent that the first building was not large enough to serve the growing student body, so a second building of brick was built on the northwest corner of what is now known as Fourth Avenue and 114th Street (then called North Street.) It remains almost unchanged in appearance today. The building was constructed on two lots transferred to the trustees of the Academy by a deed dated May 2, 1820.
In the new building with its expanded facilities, The Lansingburgh Academy flourished for the next eighty years. The Academy offered such an advanced program of study that students were able to enter college as sophomores after graduating.
Many famous people were connected to the Academy. Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, an early president, was later the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was the author of a noted Greek grammar, used at the Academy and in many colleges. Ebenezer D. Maltbie was in charge of the Academy when author Herman Melville graduated with a degree in surveying and engineering. Maltbie was the author of a popular book on zoology. And Chester A. Arthur, future president of the United States, taught a course in 'Elements of Law' when he resided in Lansingburgh.
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