One of my favorite buildings is the Troy Public Library (Hart Memorial), located on Second Street near Seminary Park. It truly is a remarkable piece of architecture in 'American Renaissance' style and has been serving Trojans at that location for over 100 years.

The financing and lot for the building with the white marble facade was given by Mary E. Hart in honor of her husband William Howard Hart, and was designed by the NYC architectural firm of J. Stewart Barney and Henry Otis Chapman. As one European friend of mine remarked, it's like having a bit of the renaissance in downtown Troy.

When the Young Men's Association and Free Reading Room joined forces in 1879 to create the Library, Troy was a leading industrial city. It was also famous for its educational institutions like Amos Eaton's RPI and Emma Willard's Female Seminary.

So "Renaissance" is a fitting term for the library because, in reality, the Library provided much more than books.

Aside from the fact that more than 12,000 volumes were available for residents of the city when it opened in 1897, the Library also contained a wealth of artwork and natural history specimens; in fact it could easily be described as a library/museum.

Even today, inside and along the elaborately carved marble walls, you will find 19th century paintings, friezes, marble and bronze statues, engravings, stuffed birds, and other americana, including an original Tiffany window.

While economic strains over the years have forced the library to sell some of its holdings, it still has an impressive collection.

Two marble sculptures instantly grab your attention. The life size Esmeralda & The Goat (Hunchback of Notre Dame) attributed to Antonio Rossetti of Rome (1867) is in the northwest corner of the Lobby (an identical piece is at the Union League in Philadelphia).

Similarly, as you go up the marble stairs to the second floor, the Greek Atalanta, daughter of Iasius, king of Arcadia, greets you on the landing. This full size marble piece is attributed to William H. Rinehart (1825-1874), a Maryland farmboy and stonecutter, who became one of America's most skilled 19th century figural sculptors. In 1855, he established a studio in Rome and stayed there. His other work includes the carved reliefs for the bronze doors, "The History of Justice," of the Senate Chamber in D.C., and the Paine Mausoleum statue in Oakwood Cemetery. Most of his works are at the Peabody Institute where there are casts of 42 figures, reliefs, and busts and 3 marble originals, including his masterpiece, Clytie.

Right above Atalanta hangs a 3 by 18 foot plaster frieze mural called Six Horses and Nine Men, a smaller version of the original one meter tall by 160 meters in length on the Parthenon, one of the largest relief sculptures of the ancient world. It depicts the Panathenaic procession, a procession that took place during the Panathenaia, an ancient Athenian festival that celebrates Athena's birthday for 28 days during the summer.

Along the walls in the Reference Room on the second floor are several paintings by William R. Tyler (1825-96) and Frank Fowler (1852-1910).

Fowler's two paintings, which flank the sides of the large ornate fireplace, are fittingly of William Howard Hart and Mary Hart, benefactor of the library. Fowler who studied at Ecole Dess Beaux Arts in France, and with the famous French painter Carolus Duran in Florence, had his studio in New York City.

Some six paintings from William R. Tyler, probably painted between 1870-80, reveal land and seascapes with a touch of Hudson River School style. Tyler moved to Troy when he was 18 to paint scenes on the panels of coaches for carriage maker Eaton and Gilbert. In 1858, Tyler had a studio on Broadway.

Two paintings of Tyler are historical in nature, The Telling Shot, a battle between the Civil War ships Kearsage and Alabama (built in Portsmouth Yard in 1861, this steam and sail ship is best known for defeating the Confederate raider Alabama off the coast of France in 1864), and my favorite, The Conflict Between the Monitor and Merrimac at Hampton Roads, March, 1862. The hull plates for the Monitor were made here in Troy.

A painting of a mill scene by another local artist Joseph Hidley (1830-1872) hangs in the administration office. Hidley is noted for his paintings of Glass Lake and Poenstenkill village.