The alleys of the Country Club Highlands subdivision
The alleys in the Country Club Highlands subdivision as laid out in
1912 (First
revised map of Country Club Highlands, filed 31 December 1912,
Book 27 Map 808) were used as common access to the rear of lots, to
garages opening onto the alleys, and for water supply pipes, and the
combination storm and septic tank overflow piping, installed soon
after 1912 by the developers (the Pitkin-Witbeck partnership and its
Pitkin-Witbeck Construction Company) along most of the alleys (map of drains; map of water system).
Most of the alleys were also used to install poles and wires for
phone and electrical power services (but not the alleys located east
and west of Waverly Place).
One piece of the original alley system, that east of and running
parallel with Waverly Place, appears never to have been constructed,
being placed across a substantial gully.
lot map of Country Club Highlands,
annotated to show alley locations
[click on the image to view enlarged]
A change was made in 1928 to the layout of
the lots and the alley west of Elmwood Street; the alley was shifted
50 feet west, and the lots 297-321 on the west side of Elmwood were
extended from 100 to 150 feet long. This revision is recorded in the
Second revised map of
Country Club Highlands, filed 21 November 1928, Book 67 (vol
3), Map 10. The land occupied by the old position of the alley
section parallel to Elmwood Street was deeded 31 December 1928 by
the Pitkin and Witbeck partners to Caroline Witbeck, Deed book 805 page
283. This is evidence that the alleys were held as the
property of the developers. This strip of the old alley became part
of the extension of lots 297-321, which were all (except the
northern 13ft of 321) sold by Caroline Witbeck soon afterward.
Before the transfer in 1940 of the
remaining unsold lots and other areas of unsold property in the
McKown Hotel Farm tract, by Caroline Witbeck to Emma Van Loan, no
parts of the other alleys had been sold; and this also applies to
the revised alley running parallel with and 150 feet west of Elmwood
Street.
Transactions by Emma Van Loan, selling pieces of the alleys
of the Country Club Highlands subdivision
map showing alleys of the
Country Club Highlands development, showing segments that were
sold
[click on the image to view enlarged]
Waverly Place-Norwood Street (east) alley
On 10 April 1941, Emma Van Loan sold the northern end of the alley
between Waverly Place and Norwood Street to Zoe Hunt Tunnicliffe*
who the same day purchased from an intermediary the lots on which
the house 16 Norwood Street was built; the length of the alley sold
corresponded to the extent of the adjacent lots making up this
property.
This sale is recorded in Deed
book 917 page 516.
Conditions are included: "Said parcel hereby conveyed is deeded
subject to present and any future easements that said party of the
first part, her heirs or assigns may require, desire or give to
others for the purpose of water gas, sewer or other pipes of a
public service nature, and for telephone or power service lines".
No drain was installed by the developers in this northern section of
the east Norwood alley, neither before nor after this sale. The more
southerly part of this alley contained a drain running north,
connecting with the main outflow drain crossing it, running east
towards Waverly Place. [drain
map]
*(acting as a realtor, but who later became a McKownville resident
at 22 Parkwood St)
The lots for the house were originally sold by Caroline L Witbeck on
27 April 1940 to Edmund F Bainbridge, one among five parcels sold in
this transaction.
Deed book 917 page 150.
Edmund F Bainbridge sold 10 April 1941 this Norwood Street parcel to
Zoe Hunt Tunnicliffe.
Deed book 917 page 520.
According to the Albany city directory, this house built as 16
Norwood Street was vacant 1942-3; rented 1944; then occupied by
Bernard Colburn from 1945, who purchased both parcels, including the
alley piece.
Deed book 987 page 105
(the house lots); Deed book
994 page 93 (the alley piece), both dated 14 November 1945.
Elmwood Street (west) alley
The only other pieces of the alleys in the Country Club Highlands
subdivision that were sold are parts of the alley connected to the
west side of Elmwood Street, in the revised position made in 1928 (see map above). The storm/sewer drain
originally installed by the Pitkin-Witbeck partnership was placed
along the alley position as first laid out in 1912; possibly the
first water supply pipe was there also. This position (shown on the
1950 map of the
McKownville drains) is good evidence for the installation of
the drain system in the first years of the development. A larger
water supply pipe was installed along the course parallel with
Elmwood Street of the second alley position, perhaps about 1930, and
this utility right-of-way also contains poles and cables for phone,
coaxial wired and internet fiber optic communications.
Alley segment now part of 344 Fuller Road parcel
One piece of the alley west of Elmwood Street was sold 27 April 1960
by McKown Farm Realty Corporation to August J Domenico. Deed book 1646 page 373.
This was added to the lots 336 to 342 and southern 15 ft of lot 343,
on which the building at 344 Fuller Road was constructed. The
segment of the alley system leading to Fuller Road, adjacent to the
southern edge of lot 336, and bordering the north ends of lots 67 to
64 and the western 10 feet of lot 63, was included in the sale.
However, it was not referred to in the deed as an alley, despite
being the direct continuation of the alley segment leading west from
Elmwood Street; rather it was termed "all that tract or parcel
of land located between the southerly boundary line of lot 336 and
the northerly boundary line of lots 67, 66, 65, 64, and the
westerly ten feet of lot 63..." The deed goes on to specify
"all as shown on a certain plan of lots entitled 'Country Club
Highlands' surveyed for Arthur F Pitkin and Benjamin F Witbeck by
Leslie Allen, surveyor, and filed December 31, 1912 in the office
of the County Clerk, Albany County, New York, as Revised Map of
"Country Club Highlands", said lots..." This is an erroneous
statement; it should have referred to the Second Revised map of
"Country Club Highlands" filed November 21, 1928, because the
numbered lots 336 to 343 are 50 feet shorter in the more recent
revision due to the westward shift of the alley section running
parallel with Elmwood Street. However, the dimensional description
in the deed of the overall parcel is correct. The conditions
specified state "This conveyance is made and accepted subject to
any easements, covenants, conditions, and restrictions of record,
and subject to the following covenants and restrictions which
shall run with the land, to wit: No building shall be erected on
said premises other than a single family dwelling with an attached
garage permitted. No intoxicating liquor may be sold and no
business or manufacturing may be carried on on said premises."
See this
page for more extended discussion of the violation of this
residential deed restriction in this parcel.
Alley segments of the section parallel with Elmwood Street
- definitely sold
A segment of the 15 feet wide alley section which runs
parallel with Elmwood Street was also sold off around this time by
McKown Farm Realty Corporation.
The northernmost 13 feet of the alley were sold 25 August 1959 Deed book 1652 page 431
to the owners of 16 Elmwood Street along with 13 feet wide
sections of the adjacent lots 321 and 360 (which had been left
orphaned between lots sold originally in 1914, and in 1929, perhaps
because they had been used to install a 2½ inch water supply pipe
running from the alley to Elmwood Street and then northward along
that street). This deed also refers erroneously to the Revised map
of Country Club Highlands of 1912, but the overall parcel dimensions
are again correct and not affected by this error. The conditions
specified: "Said parcel sold subject to all rights of way
granted to New York Telephone Company, Niagara Mohawk Power
Corporation, and McKownville Water District." and: "That
neither the parties of the second part nor their heirs,
successors, or assigns shall, or will, erect or permit to be
erected upon any portion or portions of the premises conveyed any
building or structure of any type or nature whatsoever."
- probably sold
Another segment of the west Elmwood Street alley was sold in 1964 by
the then owner of 14 Elmwood Street, Vincent J Powers, to
the buyers of the lots and house at 14 Elmwood Street.
Deed book 1813 page 439, (the alley segment); Deed book 1813 page 472,
(the house lots and lots west of the alley) both dated 24 November
1964.
1947-1964 - In this time interval there should be a deed
from McKown Farm Realty Corporation (or Emma Van Loan) to Vincent J
Powers for the alley segment, but no trace of this has been found in
the deed indexes of this interval. This suggests that (most
probably) there was a failure to file and/or record that deed, or
(less likely) that this sale of the alley segment was presumptuous,
and invalid.
Earlier deeds for this property:
Deed book 1076 page 230,
dated 23 July 1947, E & S Van Leuven to Vincent J Powers (the
house lots and lots west of the alley)
Deed book 1076 page 205,
dated 20 June 1947, Mary Witbeck to E & S Van Leuven (the lots
west of the alley)
Deed book 805 page 504,
dated 25 October 1929, Caroline Witbeck to Edward Van Leuven (the
house lots).
Later deeds for this property:
Deed book 2879 page 599,
dated 16 March 2007.
Deed book 2650 page 924,
dated 22 February 2000.
- not sold
The remaining part of this west Elmwood alley was not sold. However,
some deeds for adjacent properties read as if parts could have been
transferred......
Lots west of the alley segment section parallel with Elmwood
Street
The properties of 12, 10, 8 and 6 Elmwood Street also each include a
parcel located west of the alley, and these use their properties as
if the alley was included; that is the alley is now, and has been
for many years, inaccessible for vehicle passage north of the end of
the rear of 4 Elmwood Street. However, it is still a utility
right-of-way.
The lots west of the alley were originally sold, along with lots at
the north end of Elmwood Street, by Caroline Witbeck to William W
Farley
Deed book 917 page
141 (27 April 1940). Farley sold these lots 16 November 1942
to Mary Witbeck Deed book
963 page 238. Mary Witbeck sold most of these lots to the
adjacent property owners (14, 10, 8 and 6 Elmwood St) before the
incorporation of the McKown Farm Realty Corporation in November
1950. The narrow partial lot adjoining the north end of the alley
was sold in 1959 to the owners of 16 Elmwood St by the McKown Farm
Realty Corporation. The lots adjacent to 12 Elmwood, however, were
not sold until 1968, by Emma Van Loan and her three sisters
separately named, as the legal
successors to that Corporation, which had been dissolved in
1961. None of these original deeds conveying lots west of the alley
mention the alley, and do not include it.
Deeds for the properties 12, 10, 8 and 6 Elmwood St
None of the deeds for these four residential properties include any
mention of the alley in the lot listings. The dimensional
recitations for 10, 8, and 6 Elmwood Street are given separately for
the parcels east and west of the alley. However, the recitation for
12 Elmwood in 1979 is made as if the alley was implicitly included;
and for 8 Elmwood, the deeds from 1984 onwards contain a similar
overall recitation, along with the separate recitations for the
parcels east and west of the alley. The recitations implicitly
including the alley are probably in error, and we have found no
trace of any deed conveying these alley segments (from McKown Farm
Realty Corporation; from Emma Van Loan; from Caroline Witbeck; nor
from Pitkin-Witbeck Realty Corp., nor the Pitkin and Witbeck
partnership).
12 Elmwood: property description from Mortgage book
3299 page 170 (29 March 1995); Deed book 2170
page 167 (7 June 1979); Deed book 2164
page 1027 (24 January 1979); Deed book 2125
page 550 (29 December 1976); Deed book 2125
page 541 (4 May 1972); Deed book 2125
page 535 (27 April 1972, confirming lots west of the alley); Deed book 1942 page
55 (31 May 1968); Deed book 1937 page 363
(17 April 1968, lots west of the alley); Deed book 1937
page 389 (15 April 1968, the house lots); Deed book 1856
page 229 (21 December 1965, the house lots); Deed book 805 page
454 (1 October 1929, the house lots).
10 Elmwood: Deed book 2509
page 173, and Deed book 2521
page 122, dated 12 April 1994, and 16 August 1994; Deed book 1198
page 331 (16 January 1950, the house lots); Deed book 1205
page 163 (16 March 1950, lots west of the alley); Deed book 805 page
416 (3 September 1929) the house lots.
8 Elmwood: Deed
book 2539 page 151 (31 July 1995); Deed book 2444 page
623 (30 August 1991); Deed book 2261 page
303 (18 May 1984); Deed book 2212 page
553 (25 September 1981); Deed Book 2191 page
26 (15 July 1980); Deed book 2070 page
981 (12 September 1973); Deed book 1949 page
357 (9 August 1968); Deed book 1688 page
73 (8 June 1961); Deed book 975 page 362
(19 September 1945, lots west of alley); Deed book 805 page
338 (26 April 1929) the house lots.
6 Elmwood: property description from Mortgage books;
Deed book 2180
page 431 (16 November 1979); Deed book
1167 page 113 (18 May 1949, lots west of alley); Deed book 805 page
257 (22 November 1928); Deed book 834 page
413 (2 April 1931) the house lots east of alley.
Deeds for 4 Elmwood St
4 Elmwood Street did not obtain any parcel west of the alley. But
the original deed for the house lots does, in contrast to parcels
north of it, mention the right for access in common to the alley.
4 Elmwood: lots 297, 298 (southern part of present parcel) Deed book 679 page
337 (19 April 1916); Deed book 870 page
146 (8 April 1935); note that both of these refer to the old
1912 Country Club Highlands map, with lots only 100 feet long. The
additional 50 feet these two lots gained in the 1928 second revision
map were also sold 8 April 1935 by Caroline Witbeck Deed book 870 page
147. She sold lot 299, a full 150 feet long, separately Deed book 834 page
504 (20 August 1931).
Lots 300-302 and S part 303 (north part of present parcel) Deed book 805 page
282 (2 January 1929); Deed book 834 page
190 (7 July 1930); 150 feet long, based on second revised map,
and including a specific statement of the right to use the alley in
the rear of the premises conveyed "in common with others".
Utility easements
The original water supply and storm/septic tank overflow drains were
installed along the alleys, by the Pitkin-Witbeck partnership, so on
their own land there was no easement needed.
Water
When the Pitkin-Witbeck water system was purchased by the
McKownville Water District, in 1949, the deed contains an easement
section which can be read as if it included all the old pipes of the
water system, many of which were located within the alleys
[annotated map of
this system].
Deed book 1160 page 193-6
(on page 194):
"Easements and Rights of Way: An easement or right of way upon,
over and through land owned by the party of the first part and the
streets and ways thereon, as shown in red outline on map of lands
and rights of way to be acquired for McKownville Water District,
prepared by Benjamin L. Smith & Associates dated March 1948,
revised April 22, 1948, to lay at any times or time, and from time
to time pipes and conduits, with the right to maintain, re-lay or
remove the same, or to remove any existing pipes or conduits
therein, with the right of ingress and egress to said lands,
streets and ways, and all other rights and privileges incident or
necessary to the enjoyment of said easement or right."
The marked map with the red outline has not been found, but a map of the
McKownville Water District made by the same engineering
consultants and dated June 1948 is preserved in the Association's
archive.
and Sewer
The McKownville Water District and the McKownville Sewer District
were both legally established in 1947. The Sewer District, however,
did not obtain legal authority to take over the old storm/sewer
overflow system of McKownville until 1954, and there seems to be no
record of any deeds nor easements made for the old storm/septic
overflow drains when they were taken into the McKownville Sewer
District. [There is a map
of that system dated October 1950 in the Association
archives]. The document
made in 1946 by the McKownville Improvement Association
summarizing information for the refurbishment of both systems states
that even then the ownership of the drainage system was unclear.
Several repairs made to the drainage/septic tank overflow system
under the sponsorship of the McKownville Improvement Association in
the 1930's show by omission that the owners of the remaining Country
Club Highlands development land (in that interval, Caroline Witbeck)
took no responsibility for the repairs, beyond (perhaps) making a
financial contribution to the costs along with other neighborhood
homeowners. In the Country Club Highlands area the old storm/sewer
overflow pipes were almost entirely located in the alleys for
connection to the septic tanks of the adjacent houses; downstream
drains entered pipes along and across Western Avenue which led to
discharge (untreated) at several places into the two branches of the
Krum Kill. This system remained in use until 1973, when the 1969-73
construction
project for the present sewer system was completed, and
homeowners were obliged
to connect to the new system, and to disconnect from and fill
in septic tanks; the old drains in the alleys were left in place.
map showing alleys of
Country Club Highlands and the old drains located in them
[click on the image to view enlarged]
Electrical supply and communication system
poles and cables
A newspaper advertisement for lots in Country Club Highlands in 1914
mentioned telephone and electric service, as well as water and
drainage; from this it is clear that installation of these services
was at least in progress by that time. The alleys were used widely
for this, except for some of the houses fronting on Western Avenue,
and Norwood Street and Waverly Place.
A legal easement for these was granted (but not until 1930) to the
New York Telephone Company, and to the New York Power and Light
Corporation (later part of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation)
from Pitkin-Witbeck Realty Co: Deed book 834 pages 234-6,
dated 1930-06-19, recorded 1930-09-06.
This references a map, closet
2, drawer 26, Map 507;which shows the easements were all in
the alleys.
Gas supply piping (installed by Municipal Gas Co. in the late 1920's
in Country Club Highlands) was placed entirely in the roadways,
subsequently (1951) deeded to the Town of Guilderland, and not in
the alleys. An original easement for the gas pipes has not been
found in the deed indexes, but they are shown on the easement map of
1930, suggesting that an easement was issued but never recorded.
Knowles Terrace utilities easement dates from 1916, but not recorded
until 1930; Deed book 834
page 21 (also includes Municipal Gas Co.)
The transactions recorded above show that most of the original alley
system was not sold, and was up to May 1960 still the property of
the McKown Farm Realty Corporation.
See this page for the
record of the dissolution of the McKown Farm Realty Corporation, and
the successor ownership of property unsold at that time.
return to
Country Club Highlands alleys page
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