
In a story a few days ago I mentioned Albany’s Hackleman Park. But as I typed the words, I remembered the full name, Eleanor Hackleman Park.
When the former bank building at First and Broadalbin in Albany is demolished in the next few weeks, the wreckers will be looking for the cornerstone that was placed 110 years ago.
I parked my bike at the foot of the Ellsworth Street Bridge in Albany, ignored the decades-old “closed” sign you see down there, and walked up the eastern sidewalk, high enough to look back at a new sight.
Just about every weekday afternoon, a Portland & Western feight train enters Albany on the Toledo branch from the direction of Corvallis. If you like trains and happen to be cruising past on a bike, you’re likely to stop and watch, like this:
There’s a lot of history in the old Madison School in Albany’s Willamette neighborhood. I looked it up when someone called my attention to the construction work taking place there now.
Wandering around downtown Albany on a summer evening, sometimes you look up and just have to take a picture.
Old forgotten rails: When history fades
For many years, a remnant of a long unused railroad spur has been visible on the west end of Water Avenue at Washington Street. Before this artifact of Albany’s history disappears forever, I tried to find out where it led back in the day.
Tags: "plaza street", Albany history, old rails, Railroad history, railroad spur, Washington Street, Water Avenue, Waterfront Project