Loudon Road Historic District
The pin is a point inside the NPS boundary polygon, not a surveyed location.
Why it's listed
Loudon Road in Loudonville, town of Colonie, is lined with homes and a few commercial buildings that trace the area's development along the old plank road from Albany to Saratoga. Before 1850 only a few farms stood here, including Elias Ireland's store and hotel at the northern end; his circa 1820 Federal house survives at 427 Loudon Road. From the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy Albany families built summer retreats, among them the cottage of Senator Ira Harris, the Shingle Style Stedman and Easton houses, and a half-timbered Tudor Revival cottage once used by the founder of Albany Medical College. Early twentieth-century transportation turned the road into an upper middle class suburb, adding Georgian Revival houses. The 1811 Loudonville School, rebuilt around 1850, is among the oldest schools in the state. Set back behind dense vegetation, the properties keep their large landscaped grounds, and the district preserves a layered record of rural, summer-resort and suburban phases.
Significance in brief: The buildings record the history of this northbound route through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and show the architectural tastes of each period of growth. The district keeps a largely intact suburban landscape with generous landscaped plots. It grew from early farms to Victorian summer retreats for wealthy Albany residents, then to an upper middle class suburb.
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 79003247, listed October 4, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Loudon Rd. from Crumite Rd. to Menands Rd., Loudonville |
|---|---|
| County | Albany County |
| Listed | October 4, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79003247 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Mixed styles: Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Tudor Revival, Georgian Revival, Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Mostly residential, with three buildings in commercial use; the former Loudonville School is now offices and the Community Hall is now a store. Roads and developers are listed as threats. |
| Acreage | 36 |
| Coordinates | 42.70081, -73.75423 (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 79003247.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14706829
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.