Arbor Hill Door

The rear door of the 1798 Ten Broeck Mansion which hosted a very enjoyable Living History fair yesterday afternoon.  Set on a steep slope above Ten Broeck Street at Livingston Avenue, it was once called Arbor Hill (the name now applies to the much larger neighborhood itself).

Curious Figures

A mysterious trio of figures stands just opposite the Whitney M. Young Health Services complex in Arbor Hill. Each figure has two faces, one looking outward and one looking inward.

They have stood at this corner of Lark Drive for at least twenty-five years since I remember seeing them once or twice when I was still in grade school. The faces were clearer then and I vaguely recall the outer faces might shown phases of the moon.

After I took this picture recently, I looked around the statues, but here is no plaque or marker naming this odd sculpture or its creator.

The Ten Broeck Mansion

I'm quite ashamed to admit that, despite a lifelong love of local history, I've never actually visited the Ten Broeck Mansion (or the Schuyler Mansion across town...or Cherry Hill). Maybe it's because, when I was growing up, no one brought be there due to the tough reputation of the neighborhoods surrounding each of these historic homes. Maybe I just never got around to going.

Whatever the reason, I mean to make up for lost time next year. Consider it one of my New Years resolutions...to visit all three of the above sites.

The photo above shows the Ten Broeck Mansion on the high ground above the street of the same name. The house was built in the late 1790s when the land was actually part of the Township of Watervliet and leased from the Patron, Stephen Van Rensselaer. Originally called Prospect because of its excellent views of the Hudson River just north of Albany, it was later called Arbour Hill...a name that extends to the surrounding neighborhoods to this day.

Click here to visit the Ten Broeck Mansion's site.

(And be sure to check out the wonderful photos of the interior and gardens)