The Five Mile House, its location, and William McKown's lease
Map made in 1939 by William
Efner, showing the former location of the Five Mile House,
then under the green of the 18th hole on the golf course of the
Albany Country Club. This tavern was leased by the City of Albany to
William McKown from 1787 to 1808. The symbol just to the right of
the tavern is probably meant to represent the well sited in that
position. No pictures# of the
old Five Mile House are known to exist.
This map and other documents by W.B. Efner and W.D. Mohr used as
sources for this page are in the WD Mohr archive at the Albany Pine
Bush Preserve [organized and contributed by Steve Rider].
This tavern was the second hostelry going west along the "Kings
Highway", the original road between Albany and Schenectady, and the
main road until the Schenectady Turnpike opened in the early 19th
century. The tavern got its name from the location about 5 miles
along the road from the Hudson waterfront at Albany. The place was
known as "The Kuyl", an old Dutch word meaning*
"den", or "pit", but it is not known why this was applied. The
earliest record of the tavern is from 1767, when "John
Ritchies at the Knil" is the label for a building here on A map of
the Manor of Renselaerwyck by J. Bleeker, surveyor. In
1778, another map (Erskine-DeWitt map From Albany to Schoharie)
shows the building with the label "Michael Hornbeek". In April
1786, minutes of the City of Albany Common Council indicate that
William McKown is making repairs to it and permits him to put up a
barn, and to offset the repair expenses against his rent; in 1787
there is a formal
lease of the property, including 43 acres, to William McKown
for 21 years until 1808. The City of Albany's Journal of Receipts in
the NYS Library show that William McKown faithfully
paid his annual rent (£25 up to 1801, $62.50 after that) up to
the end of his lease of the Five Mile House, making the last payment
on July 4th 1807. It is probable that McKown subleased it when his
new Hotel and tavern on the Great
Western Turnpike became busy after the completion of this part of
the Turnpike in about 1800. A map of 1805
in the Albany Institute of History and Art marks the Five Mile House
as "Daniel Woodworth's T.", who was a brother-in-law, and McKown
continued paying the rent to the City of Albany. While William
McKown established himself running the Five Mile Tavern in the
1780's, his older brother James was also in the same trade, building a
similar inn on the road to Kinderhook, about 5 miles east of
the Hudson River next to the East Greenbush town line.
W.D. Mohr wrote that he had seen an undated map in the office of the
Albany City Engineer, probably made c.1810, showing the Five Mile
House annotated with the name "Lewis" and "Lease expires May 1,
1819"; that is the last known trace of this building in the old
records.
The former location of this tavern, however, was known to some local
residents even into the 1940's, and employees of the Albany County
Club at that time agreed that the green of the 18th hole of the Club
golf course was the place. The State University of New York at
Albany uptown campus was built over the former grounds and golf
courses of the Club, from 1961 to initial completion around 1968,
but the former site of the Five Mile House appears to fall in an
area that was not built over, nor grossly disturbed by the
construction. This site is east of Indian Quad, just east of the
campus road presently named "Indian Pond Lane"; the road that runs
east from here to the University Police station approximately
follows the course of the old King's Highway.
The first clubhouse of the Albany Hunt and Country Club, occupied in
1889, is recorded as being an
old house, perhaps a farmhouse, which the club soon found
inadequate for its purposes. The Club then purchased William Knowles
farm and house in 1894, and his house, considerably expanded and
modified, became the clubhouse
until the Club land was purchased by the State in 1961. The location
of the old first clubhouse has been difficult to establish, with
conflicting opinions expressed in old documents. Some claim it was
the Five Mile House, others that it was a farmhouse located
elsewhere on the Club grounds.
William Efner interviewed the manager and some employees of the Club
in 1940, and they thought that this old clubhouse was located next
to what became the 7th hole green of the club golf course. If that
is correct, then it cannot have been the Five Mile House, and those
individuals also were of the opinion that the tavern had been
demolished before the Club was first established.
What do the old maps of the area show? The earliest printed map
showing house locations is the 1851 Sidney map,
which shows the house William Knowles later sold to the Club,
located west of the east branch of the Krum (Crum) Kill, belonging
to W Cooper. The map shows another house north of this one, also
labelled with the name of W Cooper, which might be the house the
Club bought as the first clubhouse. The location shown is not where
the Five Mile House ought to be placed, which would be east of the
"g" of the word spring on the map, but it could be about where the
old farmhouse was located, according to the 1940 reports.
The Gould 1854 map only shows the southern of these two houses,
labelled belonging to W Cooper. The Beers 1866 map of the western
part of Albany does not show the Krum Kill stream, and does not show
the house later owned by Knowles, which we know was present. It does
show one house on the Kings Highway (owner J Archy) which might be
the first one the Club occupied.
There is one other piece of evidence in the written records, in that
both William Efner, and W. Mohr, in their 1939-53 documents, say
local people to whom they spoke said that the farmhouse was owned by
a Mr Enos. The censuses from 1865 (NY) to 1880 (US) census have
James Enos in the listings near those of others known to have been
living in McKownville, and farming 6 acres in 1880. Unfortunately,
the Beers map of 1866 did not record his name.
Part of the 1851 Sidney Map of the vicinity of Albany and Troy,
showing the area of McKownville and surroundings.
The house that William Knowles sold to the Country Club in 1894 is
shown on this map, in the right place on the west side of the
Krumkill stream east branch, labelled with the name W Cooper
(William Cooper). Another house to the north, also labelled W
Cooper, may be the location of the farmhouse used as the first,
temporary clubhouse.
The evidence, imperfect though it surely is, suggests that the Five
Mile House, the first structure occupied by William McKown in Albany
County, was not present when the survey was being made for the
Sidney map of 1851, so that it must have been taken down or
destroyed by fire before 1850, and that it is most unlikely to have
been the first clubhouse of the Albany
Hunt & Country Club in 1889-90.
There is a one-sentence
report in a McKownville news paragraph published in the
Altamont Enterprise of 26 March 1915 that the old Country Club
clubhouse burned down. It seems likely that this refers to the old Enos farmhouse.
-----------------------------
# Fred Abele, in the Altamont Enterprise, 13
March 1981, p.3 stated: "A painting is the only known illustration
of what is reputed to be the tavern building which was demolished
shortly before 1900". The painting referenced has not been traced,
and the date of demolition is debatable (see above).
*In the same article, Abele says the location was at "the Kyl", and
that it referred to the east branch of the Krum Kill stream, which
rises near the tavern site. This might be plausible, as this is the
only place along the King's Highway where such a stream is close by.
However, the word used in most of the 18thC documents for this place
(except for the "Knil" on the Bleeker map) is specifically "the
Kuyl". Geoff Williams, the University at Albany archivist, indicates
this is an old Dutch word for a pit, which describes quite well the
steep-sided head of the channel of the stream that existed here
before the University construction. Another source translates it as
meaning "a den", but why this would have been attached to this place
is unknown; perhaps wolves
once lived here too?
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