Eights Painting of Market Street about 1805
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click anywhere for community features Dinnah Jackson west side of Market Street Maiden Lane ran east to the river store of Barent and John G. Bleecker David Fonda - died 1805 Market Street Thomas J. Hun Hill and Fairman Gansevoort properties House of Paul Hogstrasser Dutch Reformed Church Court Street Market House

notes

This beautiful watercolor is one of more than a dozen views of early Albany as remembered by Albany native James Eights. This one showing the east side of North Market Street has been adapted and printed in a number of forms and formats. Many people "own" artistic renditions of this "classic" cityscape. This offering has been adapted from the "Bowser Lab" website.

This text accompanied the engraving of the painting that appeared in the Bicentennial History of Albany, p 670: This view represents that portion of Market Street east side, from State street to Maiden lane. The public market, which gave the name to the street, is seen in its center. Beginning on the left we have a view of the residence of Paul Hochstrasser, a wealthy German merchant. The next on the corner of Maiden lane was the house in which General Peter Gansevoort, one of the most active of the Revolutionary officers, was born. The larger house was occupied by Hill, a glove and leather-breeches maker. In the upper part Fairman, the engraver, started a business. The more stately brick mansion was built and occupied by Thomas Hun, agent of the Patroon, and afterwards by his son, Abraham Hun. It was at one time occupied as a post-office. Next to it, and partly concealed by the market was the store of Barent and John G. Bleecker. The terraced gable ofFord's carpet store is seen next beyond it, and looming above all is the grand mansion of David Fonda, a dry goods merchant. It occupied the site of Ransom's iron-front store. Beyond thge market was the aution store of John Jauncey, and rising above it is seen a large brick building, the store and dwelling of the Kane Brothers, already referred to. Back of these is seen the roof of a building, recently the site of the Exchange, now occupied by the Post-office Building. Next to Kane's was the apothecary store of Dr. Mancius, where the city post-office was kept.

A number of offerings include the attribution "about 1805." Eights produced these works of history and art many decades afterwards. The church and Market House were torn down by 1806. Eights would have been seven in 1805. As his "in-progress" and annotated works in the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art reveals, James Eights did conduct substantial research on those panoramas in addition to his after-the-fact recollections and those of his contemporaries.

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first posted: 7/10/03; last updated 1/28/11