Clinton Avenue Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Palace Theatre
Why it's listed
Clinton Avenue Historic District occupies a long, spine-like area just north of downtown Albany, following Clinton Avenue from North Pearl Street west to Quail Street. Along with parts of North Pearl, Lark, Elk, Lexington and First streets, it holds 576 buildings, all but twenty of which contribute to its character. Most are two- or three-story attached masonry townhouses with projecting stoops, built speculatively for middle-class residents between about 1830 and 1900. Italianate details such as bracketed cornices and iron hoods are common, and Queen Anne touches appear on later rows. The oldest surviving building is probably 3 Clinton Place, dating from 1833. Churches, schools, a former police station and the Palace Theatre add institutional variety. Demolition in the 1960s and 1970s left gaps in the eastern part, yet most blockfaces remain nearly unbroken rows of nineteenth-century houses. The district was listed because it preserves the largest surviving concentration of this rowhouse building type in northern Albany.
Significance in brief: The district holds the greatest concentration of speculative middle-class brick rowhousing built in northern Albany between c1830 and 1900. Its blockfaces remain nearly unbroken rows of nineteenth-century buildings, which gives it strong architectural unity despite scattered demolition. It also includes the city's most important surviving historic theater and reflects the boom-town growth of the avenue.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 88001445, listed September 1, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Along Clinton Ave. from Quail to N. Pearl Sts., Albany |
|---|---|
| County | Albany County |
| Listed | September 1, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88001445 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Queen Anne, Georgian Revival and other nineteenth-century rowhouse styles |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Of 576 buildings, only twenty are non-contributing. Some areas have open space from 1960s and 1970s demolition, and some buildings have modern siding. |
| Acreage | 70 |
| Coordinates | 42.66178, -73.75799 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 88001445.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q1101651
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.