Albany City Hall is the
seat of governmentThe seat of government is defined by Brewer's Politics as "the building, complex of buildings or city from which a government exercises its authority". The seat of government is usually located in the capital. In some countries the seat of government differs from the capital, e.g...
of
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It houses the office of the mayor, the
Common CouncilCommon Council may refer to:* The Court of Common Council, an elected body of the City of London Corporation* Buffalo Common Council, the legislative branch of the Buffalo, NY City Government...
chamber, and the city and
trafficTraffic court is a term that refers to a municipality's specialized judicial process for handling traffic ticket cases. In the United States, a person who is given a citation by a police officer can either plead guilty and pay the indicated fine directly to the court house, by mail, or in some...
courts.
Designed by
Henry Hobson RichardsonHenry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect of the 19th century whose work left a significant impact on Boston, Pittsburgh, Albany and Chicago, among others.-Biography:...
in his trademark Richardson Romanesque style, the
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
building was constructed between 1880 and 1883. Albany City Hall is known for its pyramidal-roofed
clock towerA clock tower is a tower built with one or more clock faces. The clock tower is usually part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall, but many clock towers are free-standing....
, which contains the nation's first municipal
carillonA carillon is a musical instrument that is usually housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
. The largest of the instrument's 60 bells weighs 11,200 pounds, and the carillon is still played regularly.
Albany City Hall is the
seat of governmentThe seat of government is defined by Brewer's Politics as "the building, complex of buildings or city from which a government exercises its authority". The seat of government is usually located in the capital. In some countries the seat of government differs from the capital, e.g...
of
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It houses the office of the mayor, the
Common CouncilCommon Council may refer to:* The Court of Common Council, an elected body of the City of London Corporation* Buffalo Common Council, the legislative branch of the Buffalo, NY City Government...
chamber, and the city and
trafficTraffic court is a term that refers to a municipality's specialized judicial process for handling traffic ticket cases. In the United States, a person who is given a citation by a police officer can either plead guilty and pay the indicated fine directly to the court house, by mail, or in some...
courts.
History
Designed by
Henry Hobson RichardsonHenry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect of the 19th century whose work left a significant impact on Boston, Pittsburgh, Albany and Chicago, among others.-Biography:...
in his trademark Richardson Romanesque style, the
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
building was constructed between 1880 and 1883. Albany City Hall is known for its pyramidal-roofed
clock towerA clock tower is a tower built with one or more clock faces. The clock tower is usually part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall, but many clock towers are free-standing....
, which contains the nation's first municipal
carillonA carillon is a musical instrument that is usually housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
. The largest of the instrument's 60 bells weighs 11,200 pounds, and the carillon is still played regularly. A 1710 portrait of Peter Schuyler, Albany's first mayor, hangs in the mayor's office. It was painted by Sir
Godfrey KnellerSir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. Located on the corner of Eagle and Pine Streets, Albany City Hall was listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on September 4, 1972. A statue of Major General
Philip SchuylerPhilip John Schuyler was a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.-Early life:...
by
J. Massey RhindJohn Massey Rhind was an American sculptor born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C...
stands in front of it. The building is across the street from the
New York Court of AppealsThe New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges which are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
and the
State CapitolThe New York State Capitol is the capitol building of the U.S. state of New York. Housing the New York Legislature, it is located in the state capital of Albany on State Street in Capitol Park. The building, completed in 1899 at a cost of $25 million , was the most expensive government building of...
, which Richardson also worked on.
External links