Mansion Historic District

The Mansion Historic District, sometimes referred to as Mansion Hill, is located south of Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York, United States. It takes its name from the nearby New York State Executive Mansion, which overlooks it. It is a 45acre, 16-block area with almost 500 buildings. Many of them are rowhouses and townhouses built in the middle and late 19th century that remain mostly intact today.It was first developed in the early 19th century as a small group of estates for wealthy citizens. Later it was subdivided, becoming the first home for several waves of immigrant groups, most notably Italian Americans. In the mid-20th century it began to decline when the construction of Empire State Plaza cut it off from downtown and adversely impacted the neighborhood. A local neighborhood association was formed during this period and has been credited with helping the Mansion neighborhood recover and become a desirable place to live in the early 21st century. In 1982 it was designated a historic district by the city's Historic Resources Commission and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.GeographyThe Mansion district is built on land that rises 100 feet on its west from the flatlands along the Hudson River to its east, where the adjacent Pastures district is located. The South Mall Expressway, carrying traffic from the Dunn Memorial Bridge to Empire State Plaza separates the district from the Times Union Center and downtown to its north and northeast.