page_title: Lincoln Park (Albany, New York)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lincoln Park (Albany, New York) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: 1876 map of Beaver Park, future Lincoln Park, Albany, New York
context_page_description: Lincoln Park is an urban park in Albany, New York, with a unique history, from being the site of a skirmish in 1626 between the Dutch and Mohawks to brickyards and breweries to being Albany's first public playground. The park features Albany's only outdoor non-wading swimming pool, along with several tennis courts, basketball courts, and football and baseball fields. Within the park is the James Hall Office, a National Historic Landmark, and the Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology an elementary school.
  In 2018 the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
context_section_description: Lincoln Park sits mostly in a large basin or ravine carved by the Beaver Kill, a stream that flowed from the west to the Hudson River. In 1626 the commander of the Dutch Republic's colonial outpost Fort Orange along with a company of six soldiers accompanied their allies, the Mohicans, in their war against the Mohawks. They were ambushed on the site of the future Lincoln Park near Delaware Avenue, during the battle the commander and three of the soldiers died. As the city grew the kill (Dutch for creek) and the land in the area came to be owned by the Dutch Reformed Church. Evert Wendell, perhaps illegally as a squatter, built saw and grist mills and a brewery on that land prior to 1737, using the water power from the kill. These improvements were located near the Lincoln Park swimming pool and where Hawk Street would be if extended through the park. By 1800 the mills were deteriorated and abandoned, and soon after 40 acres (16 ha) were sold as pasture.
  Due to the fine natural clay banks along the gorge carved by the Beaver Kill several brickyards came to be established in Lincoln Park during the 19th century, mostly along Morton Avenue between Hawk and Eagle. The Beaver Kill's natural waterfall, west of the intersection of Park Avenue and South Swan Street provided for waterwheel power for local industry. Industry continued to be located around the falls, especially breweries which would dump so much waste product into the Beaver Kill that the falls became known as Buttermilk Falls.
  What is today the southwestern corner of the park was once owned by James Hall who owned an office built around 1852 and a house around 1880 along Delaware Avenue. The first portion of the park to be opened was a children's playground that was built by the Mother's Club (today the Women's Club of Albany), and this included Hall's land. It was Albany's first park that was more than passive, it was the city's first public playground and was called the Central Playground. Hall's office became the location of indoor children's activities, and the site of his house would later become the site of today's tennis courts.
  West of Hawk Street was the location of Martinville, an Irish shanty town from the US Civil War era, named for its builder James Martin. Through Chapter 449 of the Laws of 1890 the Commissioners of Washington Park received authorization to acquire land for Beaver Park, an irregular shaped area corresponding to the majority of present-day Lincoln Park east of Swan Street. Under plans drawn by Charles Downing Lay and Arnold Brunner, published in 1914 as Stvdies for Albany the eastern section of the park was developed. The original plan was more elaborate and grand than what was actually built.  But the basic plan for athletic fields, a swimming pool, bathhouse, and children's activities were kept. These developments in the early 20th century included the destruction of Martinville in 1910 and a swimming pool in 1915 was constructed, but was contaminated due to the proximity of the sewer that was the underground Beaver Creek. In 1930 the current swimming pool was constructed in its place.
  In 1954 Albany Public School 24 (PS 24) was built in the northwestern corner of the park off Delaware Avenue, previously having been in an 1893 building several blocks north. In 1990 the school was renamed the Thomas O'Brien Academy of Science and Technology (TOAST).
  In 1982 a proposal was made to Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd for a civic center in the eastern section of Lincoln Park. The mayor was receptive to the plan and inquired to the state about use of parking facilities at the Empire State Plaza in conjunction with the civic center. The next year another group of investors proposed to the mayor regarding a civic center in Lincoln Park. The mayor, who would die four months later, responded with "Please discuss this with Jim Coyne", who was the Albany County executive. Later that year Coyne announced plans for a county-owned civic center facility, and though the Lincoln Park site was proposed at public hearings, the first site chosen was in Latham be
caption: 1878 map of streets and Beaver Creek in future Lincoln Park
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