Albany tourist information
The city lies in the northwestern corner of Alameda County, bordered by the cities of El Cerrito and Richmond on the north and the City of Berkeley on the east and south sides. The terrain is mostly flat, except for Albany Hill, which rises to 338 feet above sea level. The Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge is just a few miles south of Albany, off Interstate-80, which runs along the western edge of the City. AC Transit bus lines and a BART station in neighboring El Cerrito provide easy accessible transportation service to San Francisco, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and beyond.
With a population of around 18,000 and more than 350,000 living within a 15-mile radius, Albany today combines a small-town ambience with its central location in a major metropolitan area. Albany prides itself on being a safe, community-oriented city, with strong services and programs for youth, families and the elderly. It is a city made up primarily of single-family homes and small businesses, its small town character exemplified by its "Main Street," Solano Avenue. Albany's public schools have an outstanding reputation with student test scores at the elementary, middle and high school levels among the highest in the state.
The ethnic composition of Albany has changed over the years. There are over 17 foreign languages spoken by students in the schools reflecting the diverse cultural backgrounds of the residents of Albany, among them are Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Spanish. The following statistics are based on 1990 Census data. White - 66%
Albany, pronounced "All-ben-ny" or "Al-bain-ny", is the county seat of Dougherty County and obtained its charter December 27, 1838.
The Creek Indians first inhabited the Albany area and referred to their home along the Flint River as "Thronateeska" meaning "the place where the flint is picked up" -- hence the name "Flint River." The city was founded by Nelson Tift in 1836 and was established as a place for trade along the Flint River. However, steamboat navigation proved to be irregular and Albany became a rail center by the turn of the nineteenth century.
The Creek Indians first inhabited the Albany area and referred to their home along the Flint River as "Thronateeska" meaning "the place where the flint is picked up" -- hence the name "Flint River." The city was founded by Nelson Tift in 1836 and was established as a place for trade along the Flint River. However, steamboat navigation proved to be irregular and Albany became a rail center by the turn of the nineteenth century.
Albany is also known as the Quail Hunting Capital of the World due to the abundance of bobwhite quails during quail season (October to March).
Radium Springs, located in Albany, is the state's largest natural springs. These springs have a flow of crystal clear water with a year round temperature of 68 degrees.
Rhythm and blues musician, Ray Charles, was born and raised in Albany until the age of six. Charles' rendition of "Georgia on My Mind" is the state song. Other notable Albany natives include naturalist Jim Fowler and former major league baseball player Ray Knight. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) great, Nancy Lopez, also makes her home in Albany.
While the "Good Life City" is the region's economic, healthcare, military and recreational hub, Albany also is a city that overcomes great obstacles. The Flood of '94 was so devastating it drew the world's attention, but the city government responded with a national award-winning recovery program. Indeed, our bread-and-butter is our local government, which is a Georgia Municipal Association-designated “City of Excellence and "City of Ethics."
Albany has several sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Among them are St. Teresa's Catholic Church built in 1859 (the oldest Catholic Church in continuous use in Georgia) and Heritage Plaza, a collection of historic buildings and educational facilities.
Other attractions in Albany include: the Albany Museum of Art, the Albany Civil Rights Movement Memorial, Chehaw Wild Animal Park, Radium Springs and Tift Park. The city is also home to the Albany Warriors, a minor league football team.
Albany is the home to several state operated institutions, including Albany State University, Albany Technical Institute, and Darton College.
Albany Kentucky
Albany, the seat of Clinton county, was established in 1837 on the site of a tavern owned by Benny Dowell. (The original county seat was at Paoli, two miles south.) The name may be from the city in New York. The Paoli post office opened in 1833 and moved to Albany in 1837. The population in 1990 was 2,062.
Albany Minnesota
Albany is conveniently located off Interstate 94 and State Highway 238 in Central Minnesota, 20 miles west of St. Cloud.
Albany, Minnesota, a community of 1,818, is located in Stearns County, twenty miles west of St. Cloud and eighty miles northwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul on Interstate 94 (I-94). Albany has direct access to State Highway 238, which originates in Albany. Whether you are stopping for a short time on your way through or are in the area for a vacation, we are sure that you will find many activities to enjoy and will receive a warm welcome from the citizens of Albany.
Albany Missouri
The town of Athens now known as Albany, the County Seat of Gentry County was laid out May, 1845, by Elisha Cameron, the Commissioner of the County Seat. The first sale of lots was made on the 16th of June, 1845. The town of Albany is handsomely located in the midst of a beautiful, fertile country. The original town site is a broad elevation gently sloping towards the south and southeast and commanding a fine view of the country stretching out in the latter direction. The northern part of the town is upon grounds still more elevated from which the observer may see in the distance the green fields and attractive homes of the farmer and still beyond the dark timber belts which skirt the higher grounds toward the east and fringe the affluents of the Grand River to the south and westward. Albany and its surrounding territory are known for its farming and cattle. The name was changed from Athens to Albany in the year 1857, by special legislature, due to a conflict in names in another county causing the mail intended for Athens, Gentry County, to go to Athens, Clark County.
Albany is the jewel in New York's crown. The City, first settled by the Dutch in 1624, was given its charter in 1686 by Governor Thomas Dongan and became Capital of the State of New York in 1797. For the first time visitor, it is highly recommended that you start your tour of Albany at the Visitor's Center located at 25 Quackenbush Square on Broadway. The Henry Hudson Planetarium at the Center has wonderful shows to introduce you to the City's history and attractions.
You can take a walking tour or board one of the City's trolleys with a guide to describe to you the City's educational and historic sites. The Visitor's Center can also supply you with information on concert and theater performances, on dining and lodging options, or help you book a tour on one of the sightseeing boats that sails on the Hudson River.
For the sports enthusiast, there is hockey, football and basketball at the Pepsi Arena, baseball at nearby Heritage Park or, in August, the thoroughbred racetrack at Saratoga. The City is also noted for its annual Tulip Festival in May and for its free Alive-at-Five concert series at the Corning Preserve on the riverfront in the summer.
Albany
"Oregon Fever" broke out around 1840, when trains of covered wagons moved westward. The offer of free land brought many settlers. Between 1850-1855, the Donation Land Claim Act granted each white male citizen over the age of eighteen 320 acres of land if he was single and 640 acres of land if he was married.
The first settlers to the Albany "Prarie" (sic) were farmers who came in the 1840's. Oregon settlers went south for gold, leaving the old men, women and children to hold down many farms. When they returned home they had nuggets and dust which started a new era in the Oregon Country.
In 1847 Walter and Thomas Monteith arrived on the future site of Albany and purchased the Smead claim for $400, as well as an adjacent claim. Town lots were laid out on a portion of claims on the east bank of the Willamette River, just below the mouth of the Calapooia River and a new town had been founded. The city was named Albany, after the Monteith's home state capitol, Albany, New York.
In 1849, the Monteiths built Albany's first frame house, which still stands at 518 Second Avenue S.W. as a house-museum open to the public.
In 1850 Abram Hackleman, son of Abner Hackleman, laid out 70 acres on the east side of Albany for future development.
On January 8, 1850, Albany's first post office was established. The same year the Methodist church was founded. The Methodists were the first church group to be established in Linn County. They were sent from the Jason Lee Mission, just north of present day Salem, in 1843 to preach to the peaceful Kalapuya Tribe.
By 1851 Albany was designated as the county seat and all court meetings were held there. The first courthouse was built in 1852. The Monteiths were always public spirited citizens and they donated 10 acres for a new courthouse to assure Albany would remain the seat of the county. The new two-story octagon courthouse was completed on April 26, 1853.
In 1853, residents of the east side of Albany persuaded the Territorial Legislature to change the name of Albany to 'Takenah'. This was a Kalapuyan word used to describe the deep pool where the Calapooia River meets the Willamette River. Some translated the word as "hole-in the ground." Many people felt this was not a proper name for a new and growing city, so in 1855 the Provisional Legislature reversed it back to Albany.
Albany's first school was established in 1851 by R.C. Hill, the town's first physician. The first building erected specifically for use as a school, however, wasn't built until 1855 and stood at the corner of Fourth and Broadalbin streets.
The Oregon Democrat was Albany's first newspaper and was founded by Delazon Smith, who became one of Oregon's first U.S. Senators. Shortly after, Thomas Monteith began publication of the Albany Herald. The newspaper today is the Albany Democrat-Herald.
Agriculture, production, and processing was the Albany areas first industry. In 1850 Linn County's white population numbered 994 people, belonging to 172 families, living on 138 farms. A total of 6,041 acres of land had been cleared and planted to crops. For more than four decades, 1845 to 1885, wheat was the principle crop in Linn County.
Another early industry was the Albany Magnolia Flouring Mill built in 1852 and located on the Calapooia River at the west end of First Avenue. It was owned by Walter and Thomas Monteith, J. Briggs, Sam Hill and Samuel Althouse.
Soon after the mill started operations, the first steamboat, the "Multnomah," arrived in Albany. It had been built in New York City, shipped in pieces around Cape Horn, and reassembled in Oregon City.
The California Stage Company, the first major stage in the west, began operation in Oregon in 1860 with stages leaving daily from Portland to Sacramento. Albany was a stopover point in Linn County before proceeding southward. The first stage from Portland arrived in Sacramento six days and five hours later. Each coach carried 19 passengers, one driver and the mail. Four-horse teams were used in the summer and six-horse teams in the winter. The 710-mile route was the longest in the nation. The stage company was one of the largest owners of horse flesh, outside of military organizations, in the history of the country. Fares from Portland to Albany were $10.
Steamboats brought the farmers and townspeople the necessities of life and enhanced prosperity in Albany. Boats running upstream carried mail, sheep, cattle, kerosene and everyday items for the farms, homes and mills. Many products such as flour, woolen goods and pottery went downstream to be shipped off to market. In 1870 a person could travel to Portland by steamboat for one dollar.
In 1871 the first locomotive whistle was heard in Albany. The arrival of the first train was celebrated as the greatest event in Albany's history. Albany businessmen raised $50,000 to ensure that the rails would come through their city, instead of bypassing it a few miles eastward. The train brought the farmers' markets close as stagecoaches and steamboats gave way to the railroad. The world's longest wooden railroad drawbridge was built in 1888 for the Albany-Corvallis run.
By 1910, 28 passenger trains departed daily from Albany going in five different directions.
Five hundred Chinese laborers, who had been brought to the valley to build the railroad, dug the Santiam Canal which brought water, water power and transportation to the city. It was completed in 1874. In 1875, fifteen manufacturing plants such as sawmills, flour mills and a twine mill were powered by water power. In 1887, electricity was first generated by water power from the canal.
Albany became the manufacturing and transportation hub of the Willamette Valley. Foundries, blacksmith shops, furniture factories, tanneries, a bag factory, carriage factories, flour and flax mills, a twine factory, creameries and sawmills supplied local farmers and processed their crops. Flour, grain and produce were shipped by river and rail to Portland and points east.
The city grew and prospered at a slow and steady pace. Each year, houses and commercial buildings were built in styles fashionable at the time. New industry moved to the outskirts, the main highway bypassed the downtown and post-world War 11 housing developed outside the original core of the city, leaving the old downtown and residential neighborhoods almost intact.
Today Albany is credited by historians and architects with having the most varied collection of historic buildings in Oregon. This collection includes styles from the 1840's through the 1920's and is concentrated within an area of approximately one hundred square blocks. Three Albany Historic Districts are listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
You can explore Albany's Historic Districts by foot, bicycle, automobile, or organized tours. As you do, try to imagine the slower, quieter pace of days gone by.
Through unified leadership, Albany, Texas, has capitalized on its culture and history, linking the frontier lifestyle with the twenty-first century. The community is dedicated to technological advances, educational excellence and an enhanced quality of life.
Albany is a friendly, safe, clean and beautiful city attractive to families with children, senior citizens and tourists. New and diverse businesses are thriving, providing job opportunities while contributing to a tax base that upgrades infrastructure, provides housing and activities for all citizens. Albany is committed to preserving its unique heritage and wildlife resources while planning for the future.
by Albany Chamber of Commerce Texas
Albany is a pleasant village of 1199 people located 30 minutes from Madison and Janesville, and two hours from the Milwaukee and Chicago areas. Highway 59 runs through the heart of downtown Albany. Residents take pride in their community with its small town atmosphere. In addition to the school district activities, other points of interest include its churches, recreational facilities, and its unique bed and breakfasts.
Albany offers the peace and tranquility of country and river life, with abundant opportunities for entrepreneurs. The heritage of the English, Norwegian, Swiss, German and other nationalities that settled Albany is apparent in the energy and friendliness of today's residents.
by Village of Albany Wisconsin
Albany aerial map
Please click on any icon on the Albany aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Albany.
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