Colorful McKinney

A colorfully painted bit of a McKinney cast iron facade on South Pearl Street just across from the Times Union Center.

150 Washington Avenue

An ornate lantern, lacy iron hinges, and an image of Saint Andrew decorate the entrance to the historic St. Andre's Society on Washington Avenue. The Society was found as the United Irish and Scottish Benevolent Society in 1802 to offer aid to Scottish and Irish immigrants.

The elegant brownstone which now houses the Society was built for Albany's leading manufacturer of architectural cast iron, James McKinney. It became the Society's home around 1930.

McKinney Iron Works

My eyes really lit up when I spotted this garishly painted, but otherwise mundane storefront along Lexington Avenue, just south of Central Avenue. It was the second of two buildings I had come across in just over a week that featured original cast iron architectural detail and the manufacturer's name - J. McKinney & Son, Iron Works, Albany N.Y..

James McKinney's iron works was a leading producer of columns, facades, stairs, railing, and other building elements in cast or wrought iron. Located in a massive brick building which still stands along Broadway, the company was found in 1857 and was also known as the Albany Architectural Iron Works.

Other cast iron examples I've posted so far:

On James Street
Sun On Beaver Street
Decay By The Tracks
Madison Relic

There's more to come, including another McKinney work with a personal connection.

On James Street

I find this old building on James Street (just behind Tricentennial Park and a few doors away from a little coffee shop cleverly named Mug Shots Cafe) to be quite intriguing with its boarded-up windows and doors framing the remains of a cast iron facade that includes a pair of slender Egyptian-inspired columns.

Edited:  A more recent look reveals the architect's name.

Decay By The Tracks

Lately, I've become a bit fascinated by cast iron facades on older buildings. So, when I visited Silver Fox Salvage and the venerable Miss Albany Diner (both of which places I highly recommend) over the weekend, I also went a bit out of my way to photograph this vacant building.

This decaying structure is a raised block which overlooks Broadway near an mposing trestle that carries trains towards the former Central Warehouse and the Livingston Avenue Bridge. A gazetteer of local businesses from the 1870s lists this address as a grain dealer.

It's been vacant for as long as I can remember and has a very grim, spooky air about it. The slim cast iron columns with their elegant Corinthian capitals only add to the sense of ruin.

And, in a morbid postscript, last year, the body of a murdered man was dumped in this sad old relic of North Albany.

Sun On Beaver Street

Fantastic cast iron details on a facade along the alley-like block of Beaver Street running north from Broadway and just around the corner from the old Argus Building.