Lincoln Park (Albany, New York)

Lincoln Park
Type	Urban park
Location	Albany, New York
Area	68 acres (28 ha)
Created	1900

Lincoln Park is an urban park in Albany, New York, with a unique history, from being the site of a skirmish in 1626 between the Dutch and Mohawks to brickyards and breweries to being Albany's first public playground. The park features Albany's only outdoor non-wading swimming pool, along with several tennis courts, basketball courts, and football and baseball fields. Within the park is the James Hall Office, a National Historic Landmark, and the Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST) an elementary school.

Lincoln Park sits mostly in a large basin or ravine carved by the Beaver Kill, a stream that flowed from the west to the Hudson River. In 1626 the commander of the Dutch Republic's colonial outpost Fort Orange along with a company of six soldiers accompanied their allies, the Mohicans, in their war against the Mohawks. They were ambushed on the site of the future Lincoln Park near Delaware Avenue, during the battle the commander and three of the soldiers died. As the city grew the kill (Dutch for creek) and the land in the area came to be owned by the Dutch Reformed Church. Evert Wendell, perhaps illegally as a squatter, built saw and grist mills and a brewery on that land prior to 1737, using the water power from the kill. These improvements were located near the Lincoln Park swimming pool and where Hawk Street would be if extended through the park. By 1800 the mills were deteriorated and abandoned, and soon after 40 acres (16 ha) were sold as pasture.

Due to the fine natural clay banks along the gorge carved by the Beaver Kill several brickyards came to be established in Lincoln Park during the 19th century, mostly along Morton Avenue between Hawk and Eagle. The Beaver Kill's natural waterfall, west of the intersection of Park Avenue and South Swan Street provided for waterwheel power for local industry. Industry continued to be located around the falls, especially breweries which would dump so much waste product into the Beaver Kill that the falls became known as Buttermilk Falls.

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