Happening This Week

On Thursday, December 1, as part of the Local History Speaker Series at the Hudson Area Library, Walter G. Ritchie will present his research on 59 Allen Street. The lecture, entitled "The Hudson Residence of Charles C. Alger and His Patronage of Alexander Jackson Davis," will not only explore the history and design of the house but also the life and associations of its original owner, Charles C. Alger.

Alger was the designer of the Hudson Iron Works, and, from his home at 59 Allen Street, he had a commanding view of the blast furnaces at the water's edge. 

Alger's Gothic Revival brick house was built in 1851, "embellished with wood bargeboards, finials, and eared drip moldings." It was a well-known landmark in the 19th and 20th centuries and remains so today, despite its now neglected state. 

Ritchie's lecture will reveal many of the original architectural details that survive in the house today. It will also discuss Alger's Newburgh and New York City residences and the work done at both those properties by the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, best known in Hudson for his work at the Dr. Oliver Bronson House. In his lecture, Ritchie will also detail Alger's extensive collection of works by significant 19th-century American painters and sculptors, including Hudson River School painter Sanford R. Gifford.

The lecture begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday in the Community Room at the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street.
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