Here's a quick Friday afternoon then and now courtesy of the Bethlehem Public Library. Enjoy.
Top is 1900 -ish and bottom is 1940 -ish.
Now I am going to really cheat, it is Friday after all, and cut and paste the library's info.
| Black and white 5 x 7 photograph of the former Blessing Homestead, located on the corner of 27 Cherry Avenue and Orchard Street (formerlycalled Jericho Road and Stony Hill Road), Delmar, New York. The house was reportedly built in 1849 by Frederick B. Slingerland on land deeded to him by his father, John A. Slingerland, in 1842 and 1849. Frederick deeded the homestead, along with extensive property on both sides of OrchardStreet, to his daughter, Magdalene Slingerland Blessing, wife of Christian L. G. Blessing, in 1869. Cecelia Slingerland, widow of Frederick and motherof Magdalene, was given life use of the south half of the home. Charles W. Blessing, a bachelor and one of four sons of Magdalene and Christian, was the last of the family to occupy the home. He operated a fruit farm and sold produce locally. He was also a school principal in Albany and wrotea history of Albany schools. He sold off much of his property on both sides of Orchard Street. He died in 1960 (?) at about age ninety. The remainingproperty was willed to his nephew, Ralph Blessing of Amsterdam, who sold more of the land to a developer, and apartment houses were built. In1962, the two-family home and remaining land were purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hannan. This photo shows some remodeling changes,including porches that were probably added in the early 1900s. When the maple tree on the right was removed in the early 1960s, as Orchard streetwas widened, it was estimated to be two hundred years old. |
Thank you Bethlehem Public Library for your support of local history!
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Sorry, no 21st century view today - Google's street view is completely obscured by trees. You'll have to take a drive along Cherry Avenue and see if you can pick out this house.
I grew up on Elwood rd, a few blocks away in the neighborhood behind this house. My grandfather John Collen and his two brothers built our brick house on corner of Frederick & Elwood in 1954 on what was largely still farmland from the blessing homestead. I drove by this house thousands of times before leaving the Albany area when I graduated from BCHS
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