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."  The large development included 413 lots located along Spruce, Cherry, Chestnut, Oak, and State Streets, and Hudson, Madison, Washington, Van Buren, and Fuller Avenues.

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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 Birch, Willow, and Pine Avenues. 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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Belmont Addition

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N.P. Dodge & Company subdivided land in Bethlehem, a suburban town just south of Albany, in 1927. The development was comprised of 206 lots along Krum Kill Road, Westbrook, Overlook, Ashcroft, Donald, Douglas, Dover, Belmont, Dodge, and Bender Streets, and Endicott, Eustis, and Waltham Avenues.  A local newspaper advertisement instructed potential homebuyers that, "In residence sections [real estate values] increase where the people who live there have the best social positions as well as money to spend…. That is why… we restrict every lot… ⑤," and that “The value of all real estate are made by the class of people who live near it ⑥."  

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Further, every lot in the Belmont Addition was advertised as, "restricted to White people for all time ⑦,"  and this was enforced through the use of racial covenants in deeds, as illustrated in the deed for lot #114 transferred by N.P. Dodge in 1929:

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Delaware Gardens

Delaware Gardens was built in 1930 in Elsmere, a hamlet within the Town of Bethlehem.  This "restricted, exclusive park colony of one hundred and seventy-five (175) acres ⑧" was developed by Charles J. Herrick, who was the sitting District Attorney of Albany County at the time.

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​Herrick kept the subdivision "exclusive" by excluding African Americans through the use of racial covenants, as exemplified by the deed for a lot on Orchard Street in Delaware Gardens transferred in 1932 by Charles J. & Cara Stevens Herrick 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 ⑨."

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The subdivision contained 212 lots on Ford, Latham, Mohawk, Hudson, Colonie, and Green Island Avenues, and Broadway.  At first, lots were offered in June 1921 for $64.50 as a promotional premium for those who subscribed to The Troy Record newspaper for six months.  By October of that year, lots were for sale to "American Citizens of Good Character" without any obligation to subscribe .

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

②  The Knickerbocker Press, September 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), September 11, 1927, p.2.   Accessed via fultonhistory.com

⑤  Times Union (Albany, NY), September 1, 1927, p. 9.   Accessed via fultonhistory.com

⑥  Times Union (Albany, NY), September 1, 1927, p. 9.   Accessed via fultonhistory.com

⑦  The Knickerbocker Press (Albany, NY), September 4, 1927, p. 7.  Accessed via fultonhistory.com

⑧  The Knickerbocker Press, (Albany, NY), Sept 11, 1927, p.2.   Accessed via fultonhistory.com

⑨  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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© SEPTEMBER 2026