McKownville
Improvement Association
- The golf course layout on the Albany County
Club property in McKownville, and the location of the SUNYA
buildings that replaced it
McKownville mostly was built up as a suburban neighborhood
during the existence of the Albany Country Club adjacent to it,
starting with the Club's purchase of 86 acres from William J Knowles
in 1895. It was not only a shock for the Club, but also for
McKownville, when the Rockefeller regime decided to place the
University campus here and to force the change by eminent domain
proceedings in 1961. To show some idea of what used to be here
before this event, a map of the Country Club property and its
18-hole golf course are included here, along with a map and airphoto
view that show this course, and other airphotos showing the state of
the site during the earlier part of the construction of the SUNYA
campus, and the position of the university buildings on the site
afterwards.
This reconstruction is based on the 1953 USGS 7½ minute Albany
quadrangle map, with the position and outlines of the university
buildings taken from the 1980 revision of this map.
The first map below shows the Club property bounds after 1923, and
the positions of the 18 hole golf course fairways and greens,
identified and traced from the 1948 airphoto shown adjacent (click
on the images to view enlarged). Fairways of the 18-hole golf course
are the grey areas in the middle to upper part of the airphoto
image. When viewed at larger size the greens of the course show up
as small lighter grey areas at the end of each fairway, and the
light-toned sand bunkers can also be seen.
The older 9-hole course (layout not mapped) was in the grey area in
the lower middle part of the photo; the pond in the club grounds
extends east from this. The light area containing an oval track near
the east end of the pond was a horse riding school and trotting
track accessed from Tudor Road, not part of the Club.
Washington Avenue is the major road near the north edge of this
image; Western Avenue (US 20) is the straight main road crossing the
southern part.
The map below left shows the locations of the outlines of the main
buildings of the University campus completed in 1968, which
obliterated the course.
The air photo view below right shows the campus buildings about 1995
(the gym recently enlarged, the other buildings are as constructed).
Photos below show the state of the University construction site, the
former Country Club golf course, in 1963 (left), and 1964 (right)
(left) The cleared sand desert of the SUNY at Albany uptown campus
site shortly before building construction started in 1963 - air
photo oblique view to northeast from the area of McKownville south
of Western Avenue.
(right) SUNY at Albany uptown campus in construction 1964 - air
photo oblique view to north from McKownville near Fuller Road. The
Dutch Quad dormitory and tower were near external completion,
Colonial Quad and the academic podium were only partly constructed,
and the other two dormitory quads not then started.
Photos on this page are from the M E Grenander Special
Collections and Archives, University at Albany.
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