A Historic City, An Old Fort, A Fine Day In May

I'd dug up all of the Rose Mallows in my back yard which I'd cultivated for years in order to give the dogs my entire yard. They were, after all, overtaking it anyway. I'd lined up new homes for the plants I'd unearthed and three of them were going to a friend who works down the road from my house at the New York State Historic Site called Fort Crailo (see a full post about it here). But as I drove down through the southern part of the city of Rensselaer, I decided that I'd just have to go home and get my camera as there were many photos which begged to be taken.

Rensselaer is a historic city just across the river from Albany, dating back to the days when Albany was Fort Orange - yes, and even to when Fort Orange/Albany was an actual, real fort. Historians used to claim that the song, "Yankee Doodle" had been written at Fort Crailo in Rensselaer, though they've now concluded there's insufficient proof to make that claim any longer. The city's more recent history is as a railroad town and even today is home to the area's Amtrak station and switching yards. Yet still, at least in southern Rensselaer, some of the old glory remains. This house was just a block away from Fort Crailo:

And nearby, an old brick Presbyterian church:

This historic home with its false front (or in this case, false side) was, I believe, an attempt to imitate the old Dutch style so prevalent in the area:

And then I reached Fort Crailo. This is the historic site which is so old that it still has ports in the front wall through which muskets were fired at threatening interlopers:

And just across the street from Fort Crailo is a small park on the shores of the Hudson River with this informative sign (you can click to enlarge it):

I walked down to the river's shore and snapped this photo of the city of Albany basking in the sunshine of that May day:

And from a different angle:

And looking south to the Port Of Albany, where ships and barges unload all manner of goods for transportation by truck to the surrounding area:

And standing in the pocket park on the shores of the Hudson River, I turned my lens back toward Fort Crailo:

And the historic homes which surround it:

These are the old homes just south of Fort Crailo. After taking these pictures near Fort Crailo, I began to drive home but got distracted by other Rensselaer attractions. I'll post those photos tomorrow: