James Hall Office facts for kids
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James Hall Office
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West profile and south (front) elevation, 2008
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Lincoln Park, Albany, NY |
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| Built | 1852 |
| Architect | Calvert Vaux and Andrew Jackson Downing |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001204 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | December 8, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976 |
The James Hall Office is a special old building in Lincoln Park in Albany, New York. It's a small brick building built in the Italianate style. This means it looks a bit like old Italian country homes.
This building is important because it was once the office and lab of James Hall (1811–1898). He was a very important American geologist and paleontologist in the 1800s. A geologist studies the Earth's rocks and history, and a paleontologist studies fossils.
In 1976, the James Hall Office was named a National Historic Landmark. This means it's a place recognized as very important to the history of the United States. Hall made many discoveries here. For example, he found that some fossils called stromatolites, found near Saratoga Springs, were once living things.
The building was later used as part of a school until 2011. Now, the Boys and Girls Club of Albany plans to buy it.
What Does the James Hall Office Look Like?
The old office building is on the northwest side of Lincoln Park. It's connected to a larger school building on its east side. Nearby, there's a swimming pool, basketball courts, and tennis courts.
The building has one story and is made of brick. It has a roof that slopes gently. There's a small tower on one corner with a chimney. The building was painted white, but some of the paint has come off. It has green trim around the windows and doors.
A line of bricks sticks out around the middle of the building, separating the lower part from the main floor. The windows have six small panes of glass on the top and six on the bottom. The main door is on the south side.
Above the main door, there's a special plaque. Higher up, there are two smaller, arched windows. The roof has a decorative edge called a cornice. The small tower also has a line of bricks and arched windows, with small supports under its roof edge.
The Story of James Hall and His Office
James Hall grew up in Massachusetts. He came to New York to study geology at what is now Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He loved studying rocks and fossils. After college, he started working for New York State's new geological survey. This became his life's work.
In 1843, Hall wrote an important report about New York's geology. This made him famous as a leading expert on rock layers (stratigraphy) and fossils. The state then asked him to write a huge report about all the fossils in New York. This report had eight volumes and 13 parts! It took him many years to finish, and it was published just before he died in 1898. During this time, he also became the state geologist for Iowa and Wisconsin, and he directed the New York State Museum.
Hall's job was to look at many rock and fossil samples from all over the country. By 1850, he had too many samples for his state office. So, he decided to build his own office and lab. This is the building we know today.
The famous architects Andrew Jackson Downing and Calvert Vaux designed the building. They were known for popularizing the Italian villa style. The building looks very similar to a drawing in Downing's popular book, The Architecture of Country Houses. Downing died in a steamboat accident in 1852, the same year the building was finished. This office is one of the few buildings they both worked on that is still standing.
In the 1880s, Hall built a house for his family nearby. But he loved his work so much that he spent most of his time in his office, sometimes even sleeping there. His family felt he was distant because of this. In 1885, the state wanted him to work in their offices, but he still spent a lot of time in his private office until he passed away 13 years later. His office was filled with charts, rock samples, and books. He even had a small, simple bedroom there.
The city of Albany bought the building by 1916. That year, a plaque was put on the building to remember James Hall's life and work. Later, the building was used as a school and was connected to the Sunshine School. The school closed in 2011. The school district decided to sell the building to the Boys & Girls Club of Albany, and the sale is still being completed.
See also
