Kenwood, Albany, New York

Kenwood, formerly known as Lower Hollow or Rensselaer's Mills, dates to the earliest Dutch settlement in the area now known as New York's Capital District.{{cite book | page = [https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofstate00spaf/page/51 51] | url = https://archive.org/details/gazetteerofstate00spaf | quote = bethlehem. | title = Gazetteer of the State of New York | author = Horatio Gates Spafford | access-date = 2010-03-07 | year = 1824 | publisher = B.D. Packard, 1824}} In 1618, the Dutch built a fort along a creek that the native inhabitants called Tawasentha.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nWkJAQAAIAAJ&q=lisha%27s+kill&pg=PA940 | page = 782 | title = Bi-Centennial History of Albany: History of the County of Albany from 1609-1886 | author = George Howell and Jonathan Tenney | publisher = W.W. Munsell and Company | access-date = 2010-02-10 | year = 1886}} This fort replaced a 1614 fort on Castle Island that had been lost due to an annual freshet that occurred along the Hudson River.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nWkJAQAAIAAJ&q=lisha%27s+kill&pg=PA940 | page = 458 | title = Bi-Centennial History of Albany: History of the County of Albany from 1609-1886 | author = George Howell and Jonathan Tenney | publisher = W.W. Munsell and Company | access-date = 2010-02-10 | year = 1886}} In 1637, Albert Bradt built a mill there.{{cite web|title=A Brief History of Doane Stuart School |publisher=Albany Historic Foundation |access-date=2010-03-01 |url=http://www.historic-albany.org/dshist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204180032/http://www.historic-albany.org/dshist.html |archive-date=2010-12-04 }} From Norway, Bradt was nicknamed "the Norman", and the Tawasentha was renamed Normans Kill after him.{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/settlementandea00barngoog | quote = history of albany. | title = The Settlement and Early History of Albany | author = William Barnes | access-date = 2010-03-03 | year = 1851 | page = [https://archive.org/details/settlementandea00barngoog/page/n13 7] | publisher = Gould, Banks and Gould}}

File:KenwoodBridgeAlbany1908.jpg

The area known as the Lower Hollow, which later became the hamlet of Kenwood, was part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. The Patroon Van Rensselaer had various mills built here after the US Revolutionary War. In 1804, the Albany and Bethlehem Turnpike Company was organized by the state of New York to construct a turnpike road from Albany at South Pearl Street through Lower Hollow, after which the turnpike split with an upper fork to Babcocks Corners (later Bethlehem Center) and a lower fork to The Abbey (later Glenmont). Robert Van Rensselaer lived in a house on the turnpike near the bridge that carried the road over the Normans Kill. (The Upper Hollow, later known as Normansville, was located upstream along the Normans Kill.)

Businessman Joel Rathbone bought a {{convert|1200|acre|km2|adj=on}} densely wooded area and built a grand Gothic mansion in 1841 for his retirement. He named his estate "Kenwood" in honor of a place in his native Scotland,{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1IEnAAAAMAAJ&q=lisha+kill+name+indian&pg=RA2-PA48 | title = Museum Bulletin Issues 171-176 | publisher = The University of the State of New York | year = 1914 | access-date = 2010-02-10}} and the surrounding area also became known as Kenwood.{{Cite web |url=https://bha1965.webs.com/newsletterarticles.htm |title=Bethlehem Historical Association - Newsletter Articles |access-date=2020-02-17 |archive-date=2020-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217192505/https://bha1965.webs.com/newsletterarticles.htm |url-status=dead }}

In 1863, the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad opened from Albany through Kenwood on its way to Adams Station (Delmar), Slingerlands and New Scotland,{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nWkJAQAAIAAJ&q=lisha%27s+kill&pg=PA940 | pages = 790–791 | title = Bi-Centennial History of Albany: History of the County of Albany from 1609-1886 | author = George Howell and Jonathan Tenney | publisher = W.W. Munsell and Company | access-date = 2010-02-10 | year = 1886}} and eventually to Binghamton. At Kenwood was the Kenwood Junction, the meeting place of the West Shore Railroad and the Albany and Susquehanna.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BRAbAQAAIAAJ&q=%22kenwood+junction%22&pg=RA2-PA146 | page = 146 | title = Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, One Hundredth and Thirtieth Session, 1890. Vol. V, - Nos. 22 to 28, Vol. I., Inclusive. | publisher = James B. Lyon/ State of New York | year = 1890 | access-date = 2010-03-03}} The latter would be leased and then purchased by the Delaware and Hudson Railway. It was bought out by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) in 1990.{{cite web | title = DL&W, Erie, and D&H Early Binghamton History | url = http://www.trainweb.org/SVRHS/earlyRR.html | access-date = 2010-03-03 | publisher = Susquehanna Valley Railway Historical Society}} In 2000, CP had concerns about the safety of the bridge at Kenwood; soon after that, it abandoned the entire line from Kenwood to Voorheesville.{{cite web | title = Steve's Railroad Pages, Local Information | access-date = 2010-03-02 | url = http://members.localnet.com/~docsteve/railroad/local.htm | publisher = Steve Sconfienza, Ph.D. | date = July 23, 2004}}

In 1870, the city of Albany annexed a portion of Kenwood (including the first mile of the turnpike, the toll-gate, and the Rathbone estate). The city was sued (Harriet M. Elmendorf v. The City of Albany) over its right to lay sidewalks along the turnpike (technically private property and not a city road). One issue of the lawsuit was whether the city had authority to levy an assessment upon property in order to cover the cost of the sidewalk, considered an improvement to the private property of the turnpike.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Tj8EAAAAYAAJ&q=Harriet+M.+Elmendorf+v.+The+City+of+Albany&pg=PA81 | page = 81 | title = Reports of Cases Heard and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of New York; Volume XXIV | author = Marcus T. Hun, court reporter |author-link=Marcus T. Hun | publisher = Banks & Brothers | year = 1879 | access-date = 2010-02-28}}

File:KenwoodNYmap.jpg

In 1886, the hamlet (which included land on both sides of the Normans Kill) included 16 residences, a schoolhouse, a store, a blacksmith, a Baptist church, and 36 families, with a total of 150 persons.

In 1910, the City of Albany annexed the portion of the hamlet of Kenwood lying to the north of the Normans Kill that it had not previously annexed in 1870. Albany annexed much of the land in Bethlehem north of the Normans Kill, thereby making that creek a natural border between the two municipalities.{{cite book |last=Leath |first=Susan |date=2016 |title=Historic Tales of Bethlehem, New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dDSACwAAQBAJ&q=albany+annex+normansville+1916&pg=PA144 |publisher=The History Press |page=144 |isbn=9781467118552 }} The Bethlehem School District Number 12 school house was on the north bank, and therefore was annexed to Albany; the land south of the creek became part of Bethlehem School District Number 7.{{cite book | pages = 300–301 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LHJMAAAAMAAJ&q=laws+of+the+state+of+new+york+1916+albany+bethlehem&pg=PA300 | title = Department Reports of the State of New York Containing the Messages of the Governor and the Decisions, Opinions and Rulings of the State Officers, Departments, Boards and Commissions; Volume 22 | publisher = J.B. Lyon Company | access-date = 2010-02-28 | year = 1920 |author = William V.R. Erving}}

In 1916, Southern Boulevard (US Route 9W), to the northwest of Kenwood, was constructed as a highway to connect Delaware Avenue in Albany to the turnpike at Corning Hill Road in Bethlehem, thereby bypassing Kenwood.{{cite book | title = Albany Guide Book | url = https://archive.org/details/albanyguidebook00whisgoog | quote = albany southern boulevard. | pages = [https://archive.org/details/albanyguidebook00whisgoog/page/n50 38]–39 | publisher = J.B. Lyon Company | year = 1917 | author = John D. Whish}}

In the early 1930s, South Pearl Street was built along a new path; it was designated as New York State Route 32. Because of the new road, much of the original turnpike route through Kenwood was abandoned. Roads on the Bethlehem side ended at the Normans Kill.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

As of February 2020, Kenwood is no longer recognized as a hamlet within the Town of Bethlehem.{{Cite web|url=http://www.townofbethlehem.org/432/Community-Profile|title=Community Profile | Bethlehem, NY - Official Website|website=www.townofbethlehem.org}}

In 1859, the Female Academy of the Sacred Heart (a Catholic institution) bought the Rathbone estate and related structures, along with {{convert|53|acre|m2}} of land. In 1867, it tore down the mansion, but reused its materials in the construction of a new church on the property. School buildings were also constructed. President-elect Grover Cleveland visited the campus in 1884. The school changed its name to the Kenwood Academy.

In 1975, the Kenwood Academy merged with the Episcopal St Agnes School; the new institution—which continued to operate on the Kenwood campus for several decades—was named the Doane Stuart School.{{cite web|title=Heart magazine |page=14 |url=http://www.rscj.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,285/Itemid,9/ |format=pdf document |date=December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121030344/http://www.rscj.org/component/option%2Ccom_docman/task%2Cdoc_download/gid%2C285/Itemid%2C9/ |archive-date=2008-11-21 }} The Doane Stuart School moved away from the Kenwood campus to a new campus in Rensselaer, New York in 2009.{{cite web|title=Doane Stuart moves across Hudson River |author=Scott Waldman |url=https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Doane-Stuart-moves-across-Hudson-River-550848.php |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=September 17, 2009 |publisher=Albany Times Union }}

Following the departure of The Doane Stuart School, the former Kenwood Academy campus, consisting of {{convert|74|acre|m2}}, was listed for sale in 2009.{{cite web| url = http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2013/10/22/price-slashed-on-former-religious.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131024175913/http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2013/10/22/price-slashed-on-former-religious.html| archive-date = 2013-10-24| title = Price slashed to $3.9M on former religious convent|work=Albany Business Review|date=October 22, 2013|last=DeMasi |first=Michael}} In 2010, the Preservation League of New York State declared the campus to be one of its "Seven to Save" endangered historic sites for that year.{{cite web|title=Local sites make "Seven to Save list" |author=Lauren Lynn Fischer |url=http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=890810&category=region |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204223305/http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=890810&category=region |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |access-date=2010-03-02 |date=January 20, 2010 |publisher=Albany Times Union }} The property was sold on August 21, 2017 for the sum of $3 million.{{cite web|title=Investors buy Kenwood Convent property in Albany |author=Robin Cooper |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2017/08/21/investors-buy-kenwood-convent-property-in-albany.html |date=August 21, 2017 |work=Albany Business Review|access-date=July 8, 2018}} The purchaser of the property stated that he intended to turn the property into a condominium complex.{{cite web|title=New owner tells plans for Kenwood Academy site |author=Brian Nearing |url=https://www.timesunion.com/allnews/article/Former-Kenwood-Convent-sold-11949552.php |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=August 22, 2017 |publisher=Albany Times Union }} The project was not completed, and the property was later foreclosed upon.{{cite web|url=https://www.historic-albany.org/news/2020/12/4/update-on-kenwood-sacred-heart-convent-former-doane-stuart-school|title=Update on Kenwood / Sacred Heart Convent / Former Doane Stuart School |website=Historic-Albany.org|date=December 4, 2020}}

On March 23, 2023, the Kenwood Academy building burned almost completely to the ground.{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Steve |last2=Goodwin |first2=Mike |date=2023-03-24 |title=Fire at Doane Stuart school widespread when firefighters arrived |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/albany-officials-return-site-huge-fire-former-17857909.php |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=Times Union |language=en-US}} Speaking about the Kenwood Academy fire, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said, "'We lost a treasure here and it’s challenging, it’s frustrating'".{{cite news|url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2023/03/23/fire-crews-battling-blaze-at-former-doane-stewart-school-|title=Fire at former Doane Stuart School leaves questions and broken hearts|website=spectrumlocalnews.com|last1=Conlin |first1=Spencer |last2=Malette|first2=Matt |date=March 24, 2023}} The building was later demolished.{{Cite web|url= https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2023/07/11/bankruptcy-kenwood-campus-chapter-7.html|title= Bankruptcy judge converts Kenwood campus case to Chapter 7|date=July 11, 2023|access-date=July 12, 2023|website=Albany Business Review|language=en}}

• Winifred Goldring (first female State Paleontologist of New York.){{cite web | title = Women's History in the Collections | url = http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/womenshistory/goldring.html | access-date = 2010-03-10 | publisher = New York State Education Department/New York State Museum | author = Linda Hernick | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100226095708/http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/womenshistory/goldring.html | archive-date = 2010-02-26 | url-status = dead }}

• History of Albany, New York

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Category:Neighborhoods in Albany, New York

Category:Bethlehem, New York