West Albany, New York
| West Albany | |
| hamlet | |
| Formerly: Spencerville | |
| Name origin: for being west of the city of Albany | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | New York |
| Region | Capital District |
| County | Albany |
| Municipality | Town of Colonie |
| Coordinates | 42°41′10″N 73°47′05″W / 42.68611°N 73.78472°WCoordinates: 42°41′10″N 73°47′05″W / 42.68611°N 73.78472°W |
| Settled | 1850s |
| Timezone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP Code | 12205 |
| Area code | 518 |
  Location of West Albany within the state of New York
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West Albany is a hamlet in the town of Colonie, Albany County, New York. Parts of the neighboring city of Albany around Watervliet Avenue Extension and Industrial Park Road are also considered part of West Albany and includes the majority of the West Albany Rail Yard. The hamlet lies along Albany's northern border and was once home to many industries including one of the largest cattle stockyards in the United States, a large railroad switching yard, and a Tobin First Prize packing plant. Those industries are gone now and the community is mostly a residential suburb of Albany in the shadow of abandoned industrial complexes. West Albany has historically been ethnically diverse with Polish, Italian, Irish, German, and English immigrants drawn by the 5,000+ jobs at the West Albany Rail Yard. Though the neighborhood is predominately Italian-American, it remains diverse with the Polish American Citizens Club, the West Albany Italian Benevolent Society, the Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy, and a Korean worship center in the former St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.
Andrew R. Hunter purchased in the 1850s extensive holdings in what would become West Albany, improving and surveying lots that he would then subsequently sell to homesteaders. He is credited with making West Albany.
Though Hunter is credited with settling West Albany it is to industry that credit must be given for making West Albany a name in the world. The cattle stockyards were moved here from Albany in 1860 and quickly rose to national importance, ranking just behind Chicago and Buffalo at the end of the 1880s, and occasionally even surpassing them in business transacted. Growth in the hamlet accelerated due to the presence of the railroads, stockyards, meat packing and related industries. A post office was established in 1862 and in 1865 the horse railway (an early form of mass transit) was extended up Central Ave from downtown Albany to West Albany.
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Wikipedia