ALBANY

COLONIE

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Maywood Gardens

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Grafton Johnson, a developer from Indianapolis, Indiana, built Maywood Gardens in the Albany suburb of Colonie.  The subdivision consisted of two phases.  The first was built in 1916 and contained 174 lots primarily on Prescott, Van Heusen, Booth, and Conrad Streets between State Street and South Street.  An extension was built in 1919 adding an additional 103 lots on Birch, Emery, and Waterman Avenues and Central Street, between State Street and North Street.  Johnson's standard racial covenant, which appears in deeds across his many subdivisions, explicitly stated that no "colored person or alien" may purchase or occupy any of the lots in Maywood Gardens.

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East Maywood

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Grafton Johnson also developed East Maywood in 1924 along State Street, including Fern and Dunning Avenues and Thelma Street.  The subdivision had 116 lots.  As in Maywood Gardens, deeds contained racial covenants barring Blacks and foreigners from living in the neighborhood.

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South Maywood

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Schenectady native Harold G. Veeder developed the South Maywood subdivision in 1924, also located off of State Street in Colonie.  Veeder routinely promoted his subdivisions as "For Americans Only," as illustrated in the following advertisements for South Maywood:​​

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The subdivision included 437 lots on Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Massachusetts Avenues, and Wilbur and Brandy Streets.  Available evidence suggests racial covenants that also forbade "aliens" from purchasing or occupying lots in South Maywood were standard across all H.G. Veeder developments as shown in the following excerpt from a 1925 deed:

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Madison Park

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Nolan Realty Corporation built Madison Park in 1925, advertising the subdivision as "Restricted to Americans Only."  Located X, # of lots?

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As advertised, a deed for two lots in Madison Park was transferred by Daniel F. Nolan, president of the company, contained the following racial restrictive covenant:

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Birchwood Park

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Veeder Realty opened Birchwood Park in June 1927 as a "high class development in keeping with the Veeder Realty Co. standards ①."  The subdivision consisted of 78 lots on STREETS.  According to an advertisement in the Knickerbocker Press, lots could be purchased for $10 down and $2 per week ②.   

A deed for a lot in Birchwood Park was transferred on January 25, 1928, from H.G. Veeder to Fred and Lillian Wyld that contained the following racial restrictive covenant:

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​GUILDERLAND

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Westmere

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On June 2, 1928, Veeder Realty began selling lots in the Westmere subdivision, located just west of Albany in Guilderland.  153 lots were partitioned on Oxford Place, Kent Place, Surrey, and York roads, bordered on the east by Gipp Road and on the south by Western Avenue.  Years later, a newspaper article about the sale of two lots in the subdivision reported that, "No colored people, aliens or horses, mules, cattle, sheep or swine shall ever be allowed to live on a narrow strip of land in Westmere under the terms of a deed filed in the county clerk’s office ③."

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Other lots in the subdivision were similarly restricted, as illustrated in the following excerpt from a Westmere deed:

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BETHLEHEM

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Delaware Gardens

Delaware Gardens was built in Elsmere, a hamlet within the Town of Bethlehem that lies just south of the Albany city line.  This "restricted, exclusive park colony of one hundred and seventy-five (175) acres ④" was developed by Charles J. Herrick, who was the District Attorney of Albany County at the time.

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​A deed for a lot on Morningside Drive “in the real estate development known as ‘Delaware Gardens’” was transferred in 1948 from Charles J. & Cara Herrick to Paul & Pauline Walo that contained the following racial restrictive covenant:

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LATHAM​​

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​​Colonie Estates

Colonie Estates was built by Home Guardian Company of New York in 1934 in Latham, a hamlet located in the town of Colonie.  The developers, brothers Warren and Arthur Smadbeck, are credited with having developed over 60 developments "from Texas to Canada and Florida to California... [selling] more than 700,000 lots in 30 states, where they estimated, 75,000 homes were built ⑤."

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The subdivision contained X lots on Ford, Latham, Mohawk, Hudson, Colonie, and Green Island Avenues, and Broadway.  Warren Smadbeck, President of Home Guardian Company of New York, transferred a deed for lots 2176 and 2177 in Colonie Estates in 1934 containing the following racial restrictive covenant:

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COHOES

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Algonquin Beach Park

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In 1928, F.N. Stevens built this "fully restricted bungalow campsite" in the adjacent city of Cohoes, located in the northeast corner of Albany County.  The newspaper advertisement below, from the Cohoes American stated, "This land is sold on the express covenant that it shall never be occupied by a colored person."

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①  The Knickbocker Press, June 11, 1927, p. 7.  Accessed via fultonhistory.com

②  The Knickerbocker Press, Sept. 17, 1927.  p. 5.  Accessed via fultonhistory.com

③  The Enterprise (Altamont, NY), October 11, 1946, p. 9.   Accessed via nyshistoricnewspapers.org

④  The Knickerbocker Press, (Albany, NY), Sept 11, 1927, p.2.   Accessed via fultonhistory.com

⑤  P.B. Flint (September 7, 1977), "Arthur Smadbeck, 90, Ran Coliseum," New York Times, reprinted at https://spoonercentral.com/ sylvanspoon/Smadbeck2.html

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© JUNE 2026