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Troy Gas Light Company
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Troy Gas Light Company Gasholder
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| Location: | Troy, New York, USA |
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| Built: | 1873 |
| Architect: | Frederick A. Sabbaton |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 71000556[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | February 18, 1971 |
The Troy Gas Light Company was a gas lighting company in Troy, New York, United States. The Troy Gasholder Building is one of only ten or so remaining examples of a type of building that was common in Northeastern urban areas during the 19th century.[2] It was designed by Frederick A. Sabbaton who was a prominent gas engineer in New York State. Originally sheltering a telescoping iron storage tank for coal gas, the brick gasholder house is an imposing structure from a significant period in the history of Troy. For twenty-seven years the company held a monopoly on the manufacture of illuminating gas in the city.[3] In the past the building has been opened for musical performances.
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A gasholder house is a structure built to surround an iron gasholder in which gas is stored until it is needed. Before the 1870s, most iron gasholders were constructed without a building structure, but following practices already common in the New England, gasholders houses were adopted in New York. Additionally, gasholder houses were constructed in England as early as 1825, although the mild climate made them less of an advantage.
Gasholder houses were built to protect the iron gas holder from the elements, and enabled it to be built from thinner plates. A gasholder house provided a number of advantages:
The gasholder house also provides economic advantage by reducing the condensation of gas in cold weather, and provided an attractive architectural element of the gas complex.
The gasholder house in Troy, NY bears a plaque from 1873, and the structure appears on an insurance map from 1875. There are eleven known gasholder houses in the United States, with the structure in Troy, NY being one of the largest remaining structures of this type.[4]
The Troy gasholder was a telescoping two-lift type. Its top section had a diameter of 100 feet (30 m) and a height of 22 feet (6.7 m). The lower section, of the telescoping lift, had a diameter of 101 feet, 6 inches, and a height of 22 feet (6.7 m). The gas storage capacity was 333,000 cubic feet (9,400 m3) of gas. The weight of the gasholder provided pressure for the distribution of gas in the supply mains. The Troy gasholder pressure was 4½ inches. The pressure was measured in inches, in terms of a height of column of water, because the pressure was too low to measure in the more conventional pounds per square inch.[4]
The gasholder house was just one part of the complex that comprised the Troy Gas Light’s physical plant. The main element of the production facilities were two block north of the gasholder house, in a block bounded by Liberty, Fifth, and Washington Street, bounded by the tracks of the New York Central, the present site of the Little Italy Farmers Market.
Extending along Fifth Avenue to Liberty Street was a coal shed; it was rectangular in plan, and 200 feet (61 m) by 34 feet (10 m). The shed was brick, with an iron doors along Fifth Avenue, with a wooden cornice, measuring 28 feet (8.5 m) to the cornice.
Adjoining the south end of the coal shed, was the retort hourse, trapezoidal in plan, measuring 200 feet (61 m) by 50 feet (15 m), with its longitudinal axis running east to west. It was a brick structure, with iron roof beams, and measured 22 feet (6.7 m) to the cornice. The retort house is the core of the operations. It is where coal was burned to produce a crude form of the gas.
Fronting on Hill Street, and adjoining the retort building, at the southwest corner was the condenser building. This small rectangular building was rectangular in shape and 10 by 20 feet (6.1 m) with a brick façade. The condensers separated coat tar from the crude gas.
Adjoining the condenser building on the north was the exhauster building, or pump that force gas through the system into the holders. A 12 horsepower engine was used to drive the pumps or the exhausters powering this system. Off the north-side of this building was another small building housing a 75 horsepower steam boiler, both of these buildings were one story.
In the open space in the middle of the block north of the retort house, and west of the coal shed were two iron gas holders, each 50 feet (15 m) in diameter, neither contained in a gasholder house.
At the northwest corner of the property was the purifying building where sulfur was removed from the gas. This building was a two story brick structure and measured 35 by 49 feet (15 m). Adjoining this building on the south was a two story building containing the meters, and steam heated offices.
At the south end of the property was another coal shed, built of brick and 24 feet (7.3 m) high. A tar well was also located at this spot. The company also had coal on a dock at the foot of Division Street, seven blocks away. There was also an additional coal shed 100 feet (30 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, 130 feet (40 m) to the north of the gasholder house. In the 1870s the company burned gas coal supplied by Freeman Butts of Cleveland, Ohio.[4]
Frederick A. Sabbaton (1830–1894), was a specialist in the construction of gas works, and was the superintendent of the Troy Gas Light Company, from 1862 to 1890. Sabbaton worked extensively in New York State, and came from a family of engineers. His father, Paul A. Sabbation, was a close friend of Robert Fulton, prepared plans and specifications for The Clermont. Frederick Sabbaton's two brothers, and two sons were all employed as gas engineers. Sabboton supervised, constructed, and owned gas works in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and throughout New York State. He was also involved in the manufacturing of aniline dye, made from coal tar, and designed a gas governor valve.[4][5]
The Troy Gas Light Company first supplied illuminating gas in 1848. They maintained a monopoly on the manufacturing of gas until 1875, when the Troy Citizens Gas Light Company was found. Ten years later in 1885, addition competition from the Troy Fuel Gas company was created by the founding of this company. On October 11, 1889, these three companies were consolidated to form the Troy Gas Company.[6] In about 1893, the Troy Electric Light Company (founded 1886), was merged into the Troy Gas Company. Additionally, in 1908 the Beacon Electric Company was merged into the company. In the 1926, the Troy Gas Company, joined with the Mohawk Hudson Power Corporation, which in turn joined with the Niagara-Hudson Power Corporation in 1929.
The gasholder house was in operation in 1912, and taken out of service during the 1920s when a new central plant was built in Menands, NY. In the 1930s the gasholder was removed and sold as scrap metal. The gasholder house has been used for storage by a circus manager, and for marching practice by local bands. It is used for storage and a garage, presently.[4]
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