This week we continue our look at ancient wonders of the Capital District, and will focus on several of Troy's ancient treasures - both natural and human made.

Bessemer Steel Works, South Troy.

In 1863, Alexander L. Holley purchased the American rights to the 'Bessemer Steel' process for Corning, Winslow, & Company of South Troy.
It was the same year the Bessemer Steel Works of Winslow, Griswold & Holley was built on the site of the old flour mill of Thomas Witbeck. The compant built a 2 1/2 ton plant south of the mouth of the Wyants Kill and on February 16, 1865, the first Bessemer steel in the country was produced. This was instrumental in making America the world's leading iron and steel producer for years. You would never know it existed today.

Burden Iron Wheel

The Burden iron wheel was built in 1838-39. It was huge! Weighing in at 60 feet in diameter, 22 feet wide, it had 36 buckets - each 6 feet 3 inches deep. With an impressive 1200 horsepower output, it was called the "Niagara of water wheels." It powered Henry Burden's upper works along the Wyantskill helping to produce millions of horseshoes and perhaps other iron products.

This massive Industrial tool is given credit as the blueprint for a more recreational pursuit - the Ferris Wheel - invented by a RPI Graduate George Ferris. His 'Ferris Wheel' debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Paris. Like the Burden Wheel, it too had 36 buckets (seats).

The Burden wheel sat quietly rusting away for years (and well documented in photographs) until it was dismantled and taken away for scrap during World War II, I am told. All that remains is the pit in which it sat.

Congress-Ferry Street Tunnel

The block underneath Congress to Ferry Street along sixth Avenue is a buried train tunnel that use to serve the Troy Union Railroad Depot built in 1854. Trains coming into Troy at South Troy would slowly move through the city crossing Second, Third, and Fourth Streets, and entered a smaller tunnel at Fifth Avenue and Liberty Street. A few feet north the train reached Ferry Street moving through the block long tunnel and exiting on the Congress Street side finally moving into the station a few feet more.

You drive over Sixth Avenue every day but what you really are driving over is the old railroad tracks. What to see?

Go to http://www.rpi.edu/dept/union/rail/public_html/images/imgarc/troy/ Congress-looking-north.jpg

and see if you can tell where you are standing!

Go to (http://www.rpi.edu/dept/union/rail/public_html/images/imgarc/troy/ today-ballard.jpg

and you will see how it looks today.

The Depot stood where the Raddick Building now sits.

I would like to see the entrance to the tunnel brought back and the old steam locomotive owned by the Mohawk & Hudson Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society put on the tracks just exiting the tunnel. It would be a great tourist attraction.

Marshall Power Tunnel

In 1840, Benjamin Marshall dammed up the Poesten Kill above Mount Ida Falls to form a reservoir (now called Belden Pond). He then drilled a 600 foot tunnel through the rock on the north side of the falls to create a tunnel to funnel water down to power a series of mills built on the hillside, especially his own cotton mill. This power canal was operational until 1962, some 122 years of continuous operation. You could say it still is operational since there is a hydroelectric plant at the site that uses some of the old power canal system.

Mount Ida Falls.

One of Troy's natural wonders, Mount Ida rises over 200 feet above sea level as the water tumbles down the falls towards the Hudson not far from it. Water power from this region was used as early as 1667 when Jan Barentsen Wemp operated a sawmill.

The falls was one of Troy's major tourist attractions during the 18th and 19th centuries and has been mentioned in many an early traveller's diary. A wooden bridge crossed just in front of the falls and families often had picnics and outings there.

However, to the geologist, it's where the famous rock thrust, first known as the Logan Fault, was discovered. This thrust slope begins in Canada and runs down to Alabama. Here in the gorge you can see older rock deposits of the Cambrian period resting on top of earlier ones of Ordovician age (it's suppose to be the other way around). It's now called the Emmons Thrust, after Ebenezer Emmons, graduate of RPI's first class and first junior professor.

The Falls are the focus of a major restoration project by the Friends of Prospect Park and Mount Ida Preservation Society.

Troy Music Hall

Where can you find a room with almost perfect acoustics without fancy technology? The Troy Music Hall, located inside the Troy Savings Bank. It was built in 1875 as a token of appreciation to Troy's citizens. Designed by architect George Browne Post, the Hall is 106 feet long, 69 feet wide and 61 feet high, and was dedicated on April 19 by Theodore Thomas with orchestra and vocals. Many a famous artist has performed here over the last 150 years.

The Hall was awarded National Historic Landmark status in 1989 and continues to provide first rate performances.

©1999 Don Rittner