Flag Day Letterboxing - June 2016
What’s All This?
Letterboxing is a fun scavenger hunt using clues and GPS coordinates to find letter boxes containing a stamp and log book.
This sheet lists 8 sites of interest close to the Flag Day parade route where letter boxes have been placed with site-specific
stamps. Some sites are easy to find, but there are a few sites that use multi-stage clues to get you to the letter box! Try using
the text clue first, but the GPS coordinates are there if you need some help!
4th Liberty & Hill
CLUE: 4th, Liberty & Hill. Where the thunderous clay hit
the streets. Sounds from the voices behind the apple
and vegetable carts lent a musical note to the fragrant air;
the air mixed with the steam from the iron giant.
(Stamp Here)
The “ Market” was the 4th public market place in Troy.
The first market opened in 1800 and was located on State
Street between First and Second Streets. There was also
the Washington Market located on the west side of
Second St. just south of Division, The Fulton Market,
located on the West Side of River Street, south of Fulton
and the last public market square, between Washington
and Liberty Streets, and 5th Ave and 4th Street in Little
Italy. The railroad ran across Washington Street and 5th
Avenue right behind the Market before winding its way
north to Union Station.
GPS Hint: N 42° 43.524 W 073° 41.414
Poestenkill Bridge.
CLUE: Poestenkill Bridge on 4th. Rolling waters that have
wound a path through history, bridging cotton and steel.
(Stamp Here)
One of the first bridges to span the Poestenkill was farther
up the creek, near the base of the falls high in the gorge.
It was built for Benjamin Marshall so workers coming
across from housing located on the south side of the
gorge were able to get to the mills quicker. The channel
for the Poestenkill was created in the late 1830’s to
eliminate the flood plain caused by creek. The land was
then filled in so that the area known as Washington Park
could be built. Fill from western slopes of Mount Ida
(Prospect Park) was used, causing several landslides to
occur, some devastating to the Little Italy neighborhood.
GPS Hint: N 42° 43.183 W 073° 41.489
Flag Day Letterboxing - June 2016
Gasholder House
FIRST CLUE: Carey Organ Company: “ wind that passes
through tubes of brass create a melodious tune we hear
throughout the city”. Carey Organ Company was founded
in 1965 by Paul Carey. They build, restore and perform
tonal revisions and routine maintenance on organs
throughout the northeast.
(Stamp Here)
It illuminated our corner of the world, expanding and
contracting as Troy woke up and went to sleep. The
Gasholder house designed by Frederick A. Sabbaton and
built in 1873 for the Troy Gas Light Company. It is one of
only 10 remaining examples of this style of storage tank
for coal gas and was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in _____ The diameter of the building is
100 feet, and the tank located in the round brick building
could store 333,000 cubic feet of gas. The tank lowered
and raised as the illuminating gas was needed.
GPS Hint: N 42° 43.278 W 073° 41.431
Troy Music Hall — Rensselaer County Historical Society
FIRST CLUE: Bringing forth joyful music and voice to the
city since 1875. The music halls’s history is saved here
for future generations to explore. The Troy Savings Bank
Music Hall, designed by George B. Post, completed in
1875 is one of the most acoustically perfect music halls in
the world. The intimate size and shape has drawn
renowned artists such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Lillian
Nordica, Oscar Peterson and Itzhak Perlman to perform
on its stage. In 1989 it was declared a National Historic
Landmark.
(Stamp Here)
Resourceful people “live” forever here by leaving their
objects and stories for future generations to ponder.
Founded in 1927 the Rensselaer County Historical
Society’s mission is to connect local history and heritage
with contemporary life, recognizing every face and every
story. The historical society has 3 buildings, the 1827
Federal style Hart Cluett House, its accompanying
carriage house and the 1838 Carr Building, housing the
largest collection of Rensselaer County artifacts , archives
and research library. RCHS is open Thursday-Friday and
Saturday from Noon -5PM or by appointment. For
programs, tours and exhibit information visit out web site
at www.rchsonline.org
GPS Hint: N 42° 43.829 W 073° 41.500
Flag Day Letterboxing - June 2016
Tech Valley Center of Gravity
(Stamp Here)
CLUE: A corner paradise; first built as a shoppers
paradise, it now houses the innovaters who dare to defy
the laws of gravity.
The GVS Quackenbush store opened on October 1, 1856
and was the largest department store in Troy until William
Frear built his new department store on the corner of
Fulton & 3rd Street in 1898. Quackenbush’s became W.
T. Grants until the mid 1970’s. Rite Aid Pharmacy was the
most recent retail establishment located in the
Quackenbush building. They closed in the early 1990’s
leaving the building vacant for several years before
renovation of the building by owner David Bryce
completed the work and Tech Valley Center of Gravity
moved in 2015.
GPS Hint: N 42° 43.869 W 073° 41.413
The Arts Center - Monument Square
FIRST CLUE: The Arts Center: where the creative mind
and spirit brings beauty and thought to the world while
challenging ideas and healing our souls. The Arts Center
of the Capital Region began as the Rensselaer County
Council for the Arts in 1962 originally located on
Washington Park in Troy, they moved to their new home
in the former Standard Furniture Store in the late 1990’s.
They changed their name to the Arts Center of the Capital
Region and are the leading arts organization in the capital
district.
(Stamp Here)
Monument: soaring to new heights proclaiming a “ The
Call to Arms” for a new vision for our City that all the world
will hear. Located on Washington Square, Soldiers and
Sailors Monument named: “The Call to Arms” was
designed by artist James Kelly. The bronze statue stands
17’ tall on a 50’ granite column. The bronze relief panels
located on the three sides of the monument were
designed by Caspar Buberl. The most famous of the
reliefs shows a depiction of the famous Civil War battle of
the ironclad ships the Monitor vs. the Merrimac. The
plates for the Monitor were rolled in Troy at the
Rensselaer Iron Works. Built in honor of those who
served in the armed services from Rensselaer County,
the monument was dedicated in 1891with over 10,000
people attending the dedication.
GPS Hint: N 42° 43.919 W 073° 41.486
Flag Day Letterboxing - June 2016
Burden Iron Works Museum
CLUE: The story of our nation was made by men and
women who moved across our country by horse and rail
on bars of iron and steel.
(Stamp Here)
The Burden Iron Works Museum is the headquarters of
the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway. The museum is
located in the former 1880 Burden Iron Works Company
headquarters. The building was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1972. The Gateway
interpret through programs and exhibits the industrial
history of the Riverspark area that includes Troy, Cohoes,
Waterford and Green Island; all cities and towns that
border the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Visit at
HudsonMohawkGateway.org
GPS Hint: N 42° 42.598 W 073° 41.918
Green Island Bridge
CLUE: Troybot mural. He rose from the twisted metal to
embrace the future; bridging the waters of the past by rail
then road.
(Stamp Here)
The first Railroad bridge to span the Hudson between
Albany and Rensselaer
Counties was the Green Island
Bridge. The first bridge was a wooden covered span
designed by Ithiel Town, completed in 1835. The bridge
burned on May 10, 1862 in Troy’s Great Fire. Two other
bridges were built on the same piers. It was the Black Iron
Railroad/Car bridge that collapsed into swollen flood
waters on March 15, 1977. Miraculously there was no
loss of life. The current bridge was completed in 1981.
GPS Hint: N 42° 44.100 W 073° 41.328
For More Information: Troy Cultural Alliance: http://troyculture.org/
Rensselaer County Historical Society: http://rchsonline.org/
Tech Valley Center of Gravity: http://tvcog.net/
About Letter Boxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/