Always a political center, the city enrollment of 1916 showed a total of 29,198, including 18,131 Republicans, 6,085 Democrats, 622 Progressives. It now is the 28th Congress, 28th Senate and 3d Judicial district.

The total city valuation in 1916 was $169,753,500, including realty, $92,929,768; personal, $6,868,300; exempt, $60,455,840; owned by the city, $9,500,000; city debt, $6,270,001.55, less sinking funds of $935,061.27. Cost to run the city (1916 budget), $2,112,082.91; State and county taxes (1916), $774,719.67.

On August 17, 1848, the "Great Fire" destroyed 600 houses, causing a loss of $3,000,000.

The city has (1916) 204 licensed saloons and 22 hotels and restaurants in which liquor is sold.

Albany is substantially built, has excellent pavements (in 1916 the total was 108 miles, including granite block, 31 miles; brick, 441⁄2 miles; asphalt, 174 miles; macadam, 51⁄2 miles). It has an abundant filtered water supply, is thoroughly lighted by electricity, and is well drained. It has ample public buildings and churches; unsurpassed schools; excellent police and fire departments, street car and telephone service.

Average summer temperature, 70.4° (June, July, August); average winter temperature, 25.0°

(December, January, February), according to Government records extending over 42 years. The highest recorded temperature during this period was 104°; the lowest, 24°; average annual rainfall, 35.23 inches; relative annual humidity, 76; average hourly velocity of wind, 6 miles, and highest recorded, 70 miles. During the "Big Blizzard," March 12-14, 1888, the snowfall was 42 1/5 inches. Other heavy snowfalls were: February 14, 1914, total 231⁄2 inches; December 13-14, 1915, total 241⁄2 inches, with a northwest wind at 26 miles per hour.

The average death rate (State Health Department record) is 19.12 per 1,000, showing the city to be one of the healthiest in the country.

In 1916, Albany spent for education $5.12 per capita; for health and sanitation, $2.55, and for recreation purposes, parks, playgrounds, etc., $0.86. The records also show during the same period 3,160 building permits issued, covering an estimated expenditure of $4,842,820, and including 2 schools, 1 hotel, 6 office buildings, 152 garages, 5 factories, 11 stores, 8 warehouses, 459 dwellings and many extensions to existing structures.

The city is popularly divided into North, South and West Albany. East Albany is across the river. Albany has namesakes in Australia,

Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and elsewhere.

The "Albany Beautiful" movement, which led to and began with the great river front improvement and the transformation of the foot of State street into a beautiful plaza, was initiated by William Barnes, editor of the Albany Journal, and was given its first recognition after much discussion by Mayor James B. McEwan, who secured the noted architect, Arnold W. Brunner, in 1912 to prepare plans and make tentative sketches for the proposed work. In his book of "Studies for Albany," Mr. Brunner said: "To-day Albany is essentially picturesque it possesses an individuality among our cities that is most pronounced."

Note. In 1540 French fur traders sailed up the Hudson river and built a stone fort on Van Rensselaer island, just south of the present city site. In 1609 Henry Hudson, English navigator hired by the Dutch East India company to explore "The Grande" (Hudson river) sailed the Half Moon from Holland, reaching the present site of Albany on September 19. He remained 4 days exploring the river in search of a

passage to India. In 1615 on the strength of Hudson's report, members of his crew got the Dutch company to send over another ship and rebuilt the old French fort (called The Castle) naming it Fort Nassau. This structure was wrecked by a freshet in 1618 and abandoned. In 1624 the Walloons (exiled French Protestants) got the Dutch company's permission to settle along the Hudson river and in March thirty families located on the present site of Albany, building Fort Orange in June. In 1629 this venture was abandoned by the Dutch company because of expense. In 1630 the Dutch West Indies company undertook to settle the territory through manorial grants, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a rich Amsterdam pearl merchant, getting the first concession. He bought from the Indians in August the territory including the present site of Albany. In 1651 Jan Baptiste Van Rensselaer, youngest of the family, came to Fort Orange as director of the manor. In 1652 Pieter Stuyvesant, chief officer of the Dutch company, visited Fort Orange and named the manor Beverswyck (beavers fuyck - from the abundant animal and the curving shape of the bay suggesting a net called a fuyck). In 1664 the English ciaimed the territory; King Charles II granted the site to his brother James, Duke of York and Albany; the territory was seized in September and the name of city site changed to Fort Albany. In 1673 the Dutch retook the territory, changing its name to Willemstadt. 1674 the name again became Albany on the declaration of peace between the Dutch and English. In 1686, July 22, Col. Thomas Dongan, Governor of the Province of New York, chartered Albany as a city, commissioning

In

Col. Pieter Schuyler as first mayor. In its early days. the city was a stockaded trading post, important in the warfare with the French and Indians.

In 1680 missionaries who visited the settlement wrote: " Albany is built against a hill with several poor streets on which are 80 or 90 houses; is surrounded by a stockade and has several gates corresponding to the streets; has a Dutch Reformed and a Lutheran church. The English have built a fort on a hill back of the town; the Dutch fort (Fort Orange) on the river bank is abandoned."

In 1685 Albany was called "The House of Peace" by a Mohawk Indian chief while addressing a commission assembled to renew an important treaty.