J.R. Peters & Sons

The brown brick building at 44 Central Ave. next to the parking lot was constructed in the mid-1810s as a commercial building. Jacob Steenburgh bought the lot in 1814 and the Steenburgh and Welch store was here by 1817. Later, a local brewer, Robert Higgins, used the building for part of his business. The wedge-shaped structure contained a grain and feed storage and sales firm (J.R. Peters & Sons) from 1887 until 1947. The building was renovated in the early 1980s and now houses the Preservation League of New York. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 and also is part of the Washington Avenue Corridor Historic District.

The location where the 44 Central Ave. building was built around 1817 is part of wedge-shaped land where two major roads met, called Robison's Point. The roads were known then as the Albany and Schenectady and the Great Western Turnpikes (now Central Ave./ Rt. 5 and Western Ave./ Rt. 20). In the early nineteenth century, the land was among many parcels owned by John Robison, a director of the New York State Bank. The building housed J.R. Peters & Sons, a grain and feed warehouse and store, throughout the late nineteenth and into the mid-twentieth centuries.

The four-story plus basement, brown brick building on a stone foundation originally had entrances on both the north and south sides. Raised street levels in the 1860s and again in the 1870s made these doorways inaccessible; new doorways were cut into the building on both the north and south facades. The storefronts on both the north and south sides were redone in the 1870s to 1890s when the building was renovated (hinted at from increased real estate value). The building's heavy wooden framing was designed to hold heavy loads. The side-gable roof is covered in slate. Although not original, a winch wheel installed in the attic during the nineteenth century remains intact; metal pulleys extend out from the center of the front and back facades above the fourth floor. A former freight door was behind each pulley and is now enclosed with glass.

The 1890 Albany City Directory lists two Peters flour and feed businesses, both on Central Avenue. John H. Peters worked at our 44 Central Avenue location, and a John Peters (likely a son) worked there as a clerk. It appears that John H. owned the building in 1890 and John was a boarder. The other flour and feed store was at 3 Central Ave.; this was the business and home of George Peters. George W. Peters worked as a clerk at 3 Central and boarded there; while John G. Peters also boarded at 3 Central, he worked as a tinsmith. There were nearly fifty flour, feed, and grain stores listed in the Albany directory in 1890.

The building housed the Niagara Duplicating Company in 1950 and Bernard Jewelers by 1980. The Anastas family sold the property to Matthew Bender IV in 1982. A major rehabilitation project was undertaken in 1983 and the Central Ave. storefront was redone in its late Victorian style. Tenants by 1985 were Historic Albany Foundation and Roberts Real Estate. Rehabilitation funds were obtained for more work on the building, according to a 2020 preservation covenant between the Preservation League of New York State and the People of New York State.

New York State Dept. of Parks and Rrecreation. 44 Central Ave.: Description, New York State Cultural Resource Information System. March 23rd 2002. Accessed July 20th 2022. https://www.cris.parks.ny.gov/.

Sampson, Murdock & Company. The Albany Directory for the Year 1890. Albany, NY. Van Benthuysen Printing House, 1890.

Opalka, Anthony. Building-Structure Inventory Form, 44 Central Avenue, Albany, N.Y.. Albany, NY. Division for Historic Preservation, New York State Parks and Recreation, 1980.

Albany Historic Sites Commission. Building-Structure Inventory Form, 44 Central Avenue, Albany, N.Y.. Albany, NY. Division for Historic Preservation, New York State Parks and Recreation, 1985.