McKownville
Improvement Association
- McKownville houses - the older
development, the oldest houses on each street: (I) North side of Western Avenue
Many of the houses in the older parts of McKownville were built over
90 to more than 100 years ago. While some of them have been modified
by additions, most are recognizably not far removed from the
original designs, and are located in their original varied
neighborhood streetscape. This page presents the earliest one or two
houses on each street, or segment of Western Avenue, to give an idea
of the variety of these oldest houses and the time when building
started in this area of the hamlet. It also gives a summary of when
most of the other houses were constructed in the particular street,
or segment of Western Avenue.
For specific information on an individual house:
Lists of the town assessors build dates for each of the houses in
these streets included in this compilation of yearly city directory
principal occupants 1931-1961:
(.ods) open document format
spreadsheet file.
Listings of the principal occupant for each house in these streets
compiled from the various census returns 1915-1940 and the 1931,
1940 city directory street lists:
(.ods)
open document format spreadsheet file.
Western Avenue, north side, between the City of Albany-Town of
Guilderland boundary and Knowles Terrace
This part of Western Avenue contains the two oldest houses still
standing in McKownville; most of the others in this segment were
built in 1922-26 on lots sold by Charles A Gimlick, who lived in the
old house at 1245 Western up to 1921.
1245 Western Avenue,
the oldest existing house in McKownville, built in 1849 by Eli
Warford, a brick Federal-style farmhouse.
1261 Western Avenue,
a frame house built by Andrew and Henry Drumm in 1879; home of
William and Caroline Knowles 1895-1926.
Knowles Terrace
The 3 acres of land on which the houses of Knowles Terrace were
built was bought by William Knowles in 1894-5, along with the house
at 1261 Western.
Subdivision was made in 1916, and all but one of the houses built
from 1917-1924.
19 Knowles Terrace, built in
1917.
Western Avenue, north side, between Knowles Terrace and Waverly
Place
This contains the house (1421 Western Avenue) of William H Witbeck,
the original developer of "Country Club Highlands", the area on this
side of Western Avenue extending from here to Fuller Road, and up to
the old "Corporation" boundary line, which he bought from William
McKown in 1907. All but one of the other houses in this section of
Western Avenue were built by 1920.
1421 Western Avenue, built
in 1910, home of William H Witbeck to 1935, and his son and his wife
Arthur W and Mary V Witbeck until 1957.
Waverly Place
This side street is the only one in the Witbeck's Country Club
Highlands development that retains its original composition, without
post-1930's extension and development to the north. Most of the
houses on Waverly were built by 1923.
1 Waverly Place, built in 1913.
Western Avenue, north side, between Waverly Place and Norwood
Street
The five houses in this section were all built by 1922.
1437 Western Avenue, built in
1913.
Norwood Street
This side street is one of only two appearing on William H Witbeck's
original
subdivision map. He sold several lots on Norwood Street before
the end of 1912 when the revised
subdivision made by his son Benjamin F Witbeck and partner
Arthur F Pitkin was filed. The revised plan retained Norwood and
Elmwood Streets, but added the other side streets, and the lot
layout for all the unsold areas was completely changed. Houses on
the lower part of Norwood Street were built by the end of 1925, with
one added later, in 1942.
4 Norwood Street, built in 1911.
5 Norwood Street, built 1913.
Western Avenue, north side, between Norwood and Glenwood Streets
There are three houses in this section, one constructed 1914, one
1929; the other is on a set of lots that were sold by William H
Witbeck early in 1912, but sold back to the Witbeck's in 1915, and
after that left unsold and unfilled until 1959.
1443 Western Avenue, built in
1914. Home of Benjamin F Witbeck until his death in 1944, and of his
widow Caroline L Witbeck until 1960.
Glenwood Street
Most of the houses on lower Glenwood Street were built between
1925-1930, and most of those in 1926-28. Despite the short interval
for the building, there is still a pleasing variety of architecture
on this lower part of the street. There are two houses (1, and 3
Glenwood) built earlier on the east side.
3 Glenwood Street, built 1916.
Western Avenue, north side, between
Glenwood and Parkwood Streets
Five houses in this section include two built quite early in the
development, and the others in the later 1920's.
1445 Western Avenue, built in
1925. 
1451 Western Avenue, built in
1915.
Parkwood Street
There are two houses built on Parkwood Street early in the
development, and some others built in the second half of the 1920's
but, unlike Glenwood Street, on lower Parkwood there were a number
of lots still unfilled until the later 1940's and early 1950's.
10 Parkwood Street, built
1914. 
3 Parkwood Street, built 1912 (or
perhaps 1915).
Western Avenue, north side, between Parkwood and Elmwood Streets
The four houses in this section were all built in the 1926-28
interval.
1457 Western Avenue, built in
1926. A large extension has been added to the original house.
Elmwood Street
One house far up the original street was all that was built on
Elmwood until the later 1920's, when the rest of the lots on the
west side between 16 and Western Avenue were filled. Houses on the
east side up to 19 were, all but one, built in the 1930's. The
street originally had only limited access to Fuller Road, but the
north end was opened and houses built on it in the 1940's and early
1950's.
16 Elmwood Street, built in 1914.
6 Elmwood Street, the next house to be
built, 1928.
Fuller Road
Houses on Fuller Road are not easy to identify in pre-1915 census
records (because the street itself is not identified), and it is
uncertain how far back any of the existing structures were present.
The oldest record in the present list of the town assessor is 1924
for 318 Fuller Road, but from census listings this and the adjacent
house at 316 Fuller could be earlier, 1910 or perhaps before. The
house at 328 Fuller the town lists as built in 1936, but if this is
correctly identified as the house occupied up to 1938 by the Trick
family, there is a census data trail for that family occupying this
house to before 1915. Research on the old deeds would be needed to
find anything definite.
Older houses north of the Corporation line
Two pre-1930's houses exist, and a third did until very recently,
north of the area of the Country Club Highlands development.
Barnes Lodge, built
in 1909 north of Waverly Place, destroyed by fire in 1985.
Nicholas Lane
house, probably built about 1903, destroyed by the University
in 2017.
21 Norwood Street, built about 1912
30W Parkwood, lot sold to Charles Hoag 1914, but the house may not
have been built until after 1920.
return to history page
19 Knowles Terrace, built in
1917. 
1 Waverly Place, built in 1913. 
1437 Western Avenue, built in
1913. 
4 Norwood Street, built in 1911.
5 Norwood Street, built 1913. 
1443 Western Avenue, built in
1914. Home of Benjamin F Witbeck until his death in 1944, and of his
widow Caroline L Witbeck until 1960. 
3 Glenwood Street, built 1916. 
1445 Western Avenue, built in
1925. 
1451 Western Avenue, built in
1915. 
10 Parkwood Street, built
1914. 
3 Parkwood Street, built 1912 (or
perhaps 1915). 
1457 Western Avenue, built in
1926. A large extension has been added to the original house.
16 Elmwood Street, built in 1914.
6 Elmwood Street, the next house to be
built, 1928.