Albany (Ohio)

Albany is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 828 at the 2010 census.GeographyAlbany is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.27sqmi, of which 1.25sqmi is land and 0.02sqmi is water.HistoryAlbany was laid out in about 1832. It was incorporated as a village in 1842.The small rural village became one of several stops in Athens County for the Underground Railroad, as fugitives could come upriver on the Hocking River from the Ohio River. Free blacks, many of whom had migrated from the Upper South, also settled the village in the mid-19th century.The black population increased during the 1850s from four in the township to 174 by 1860. In 1860, 70 members of the black community were from the South, 53 from Virginia and 17 from other slave states.African American Education in AlbanyAlthough Ohio laws made attending public schools difficult for African American children, private schools in Albany offered educational opportunities unavailable in most parts of the state.In 1848, William S. Lewis founded the Lewis Academy, which admitted students regardless of race or gender. Lewis's admission policies were influenced by the liberal ideals of Oberlin College, which he had attended as a student.