Clio Logo

The Quackenbush House is considered to be the oldest building still standing in Albany. It is difficult to determine its exact date of construction since it is made of brick as opposed to wood, which can be more easily dated. However, given the information known about the house, experts estimate it was built sometime between 1736 and 1746, making it over 270 years old. It is named after Revolutionary War officer Col. Hendrick Quackenbush (1737-1813), who is believed to have lived here. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1872, it is now a bar called the The Olde English Pub and Pantry.


The Quackenbush House is believed to have been built in 1736 and 1746, making it the oldest building in Albany still standing.

Plant, Property, Window, Building

The Quackenbush family arrived in Albany in mid-to-late 1600s where a Dutch fort, Fort Orange, and settlement was located. The settlement was called New Netherland and at the time it was a frontier town where settlers and Mahican Native Americans participated in fur trading. The family bought a brickyard in 1668 on the property where the house was built. The brickyard's close proximity to the Hudson River was ideal since the river produced high-quality clay (the brickyard may have manufactured the bricks used to build the house).

It appears that Hendrick Quackenbush's father, Peter, constructed the house. Hendrick became a trader and was a private in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War. In 1775, he received a commission to become an officer in the Continental Army. Rising to the rank of colonel, he was tasked with escorting British General Burgoyne to American General Schuyler after the British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. After the war, Hendrick returned to trading and also bought land in upstate New York as well as farms in what are now Saratoga and Washington Counties. He also served in the state assembly in 1779. He married twice (his first wife died in 1770) and had five children.

The house remained in the Quackenbush family until 1864. It has been used for a number of purposes since then, including as a boarding house, drug store, bakery, furniture store, tavern, and antique store. It escaped demolition in the 1970s when the state was building an off ramp for I-787. Several local historical societies stepped in and successfully convinced the state to move the ramp slightly to the south, avoiding the house. The pub opened in the early 2010s.

Bielinski, Stefan. "Quackenbush House." New York State Museum. July 15, 2010. Accessed February 22, 2017. http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov//albany/loc/qhouse.html.

Brook, Cornelia E. "Quackenbush House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. June 19, 1972. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316313.

"Hendrique (Henry) Quackenbush (1713-1813) [Section 9 Lot 5]." Albany Rural Cemetery Explorer. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.albany.edu/arce/Quackenbush30.html.

"The History." The Olde English Pub & Pantry. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://www.theoldeenglish.com/about.

"The Oldest Building in Albany." All Over Albany. July 20, 2009. Accessed February 22, 2017. http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2009/07/20/the-oldest-building-in-albany#more.

Photo by Matt Wade: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Quackenbush_House_2011_2.jpg.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

The Olde English Pub & Pantry