{"nrhp_refnum":"76001205","name":"United Traction Company Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"598 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Albany","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.651950885000076,"lon":-73.74934886799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story commercial office building at 598 Broadway, at the northwest corner of Broadway and Columbia Street in downtown Albany, New York, built in 1899 and designed by Marcus T. Reynolds.","why_significant":"The building is significant for its Renaissance Revival design by Marcus T. Reynolds, one of Albany's leading architects around 1900, and for its compact mass and bold ornament. It also served for about fifty years as headquarters of the city's trolley and bus company, reflecting the shift from horse-drawn cars to electric trolleys to buses.","narrative":"Built in 1899 at the corner of Broadway and Columbia Street in downtown Albany, this three-story steel-framed office building was designed by Marcus T. Reynolds in a Renaissance Revival manner reminiscent of an Italian palazzo. Beige brick is trimmed with cream-colored stone and terra cotta, and the elevations carry segmental pediments, oval window frames, arched first-story openings with cartouches, and a projecting entrance pavilion with Corinthian columns and a balcony. Inside, an oval central hall has a colored marble floor, marble walls, and a paneled ceiling, leading to a marble staircase with an ornamental metal railing. The building housed the United Traction Company, successor to the Albany Railway Company, for about fifty years until 1950, a period in which the firm moved from horse-drawn cars to electric trolleys and then buses. It was recognized for its architecture and its place in Albany's transportation history. When nominated, it stood vacant near the equally vacant Union Station, with many surrounding buildings gone.","period_of_significance":"1899","architect_builder":"Marcus T. Reynolds","architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vacant and not in use at the time of nomination; exterior largely original apart from a modernized main doorway, interior altered but with earlier fabric surviving beneath newer additions.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.958837-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/76001205.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001205/24f5e703e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001205/24f5e703e2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Traction_Company_Albany.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Traction_Company_Albany.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316357","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Traction_Company_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7893607"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/united-traction-company-building-76001205/"}