Zip code 12202 Added to NRHP 1984 | Area code 518 | |
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Groesbeckville is a former a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem outside the city limits of Albany, New York. The hamlet was named for a prominent Albany family, the Groesbecks. It has been a part of Albany's South End neighborhood since being annexed in 1870. It was made part of the South End-Groesbeckville Historic District.
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History
General Philip Schuyler built the Schuyler Mansion around 1761 overlooking the pastureland of the Dutch Church, after his death in 1804 his property was subdivided, with streets laid out, and lots sold. Buildings sprang up along South Pearl Street starting in the 1820s and 1830s; other streets in the village saw construction in the decades following. In the 1855 New York state census Groesbeckville had a population of 1,232, during the 1860s the residents of the hamlet began to agitate for annexation to the city of Albany. In 1870 the hamlet was finally annexed when the city border was extended a mile south, with Groesbeckville becoming Albany's First Ward.
The hamlet became heavily settled by Germans and Irish in the late-19th century. In 1873 a mission was established in the hamlet to serve the Catholic German population, and in 1880 it became Our Lady Help of Christians Church, locally called "Maria Hilf" (Mary Help in German).
Architecture
The architecture of buildings in Groesbeckville tend to be modest in design reflecting the working class conditions of the German and Irish residents. Much of the area's construction was owner-financed as opposed to large-scale developers, resulting in a variety of styles and construction materials. The most distinctive styles are local variations of Greek Revival and Italianate architecture.