Troy’s Magnificent Gasholder House

There are only eleven gasholder houses left in the United States. Troy has the largest, and one of the finest examples, of this type of 19th century storage facility.

For most of us in the 21st century, the gas that heats our homes, powers our stoves, and is used as fuel is natural gas, a naturally occurring fossil fuel. Most of it is stored in wells deep underground and then can be piped hundreds or thousands of miles away to wherever it is needed.

But the gas used in the 19th century was not natural gas; it was manufactured gas, and it had to be manufactured and stored locally prior to distribution. This gas was created by super-heating coal, coke (which was also a coal derivative), and water in a retort. This resulted in a gas that was loaded with coal tar particulates, which then had to be further purified for use. After the filtering and purifying processes, the finished product was stored in large round metal tanks and then piped to the gas company’s customers. It should also be noted that the byproducts of the manufacture and purification of gas by this method were highly toxic, and former gas manufacturing sites require extensive environmental remediation.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, every city in America was ringed by gas facilities with several storage tanks of various sizes on its grounds. However, not all of them had attractive gasholder houses around them. Those were generally reserved for urban streets where the gas companies sought to blend into the architectural fabric of the neighborhoods. In addition, the brick structure protected the iron storage tanks from the weather.

Troy’s gasholder house, on the corner of Jefferson Street and 5th Avenue, was part of the Troy Gas Light Company. Its gas manufacturing plant was a few blocks away, on the block bordered by Washington St., Liberty St., and 5th Avenue, which later became the site of the Little Italy Farmer’s Market. The final product was pumped to the gasholder house for storage and use. The tank held 350,000 cubic feet of gas when full.

The elegant brick gasholder house was built in 1873. It was a protective shell around the 100-foot-diameter metal gas tank inside. The huge metal tank was built in two parts that could telescope to full height, and then slowly compress downward as the gas was distributed, thereby keeping the pressure steady. The building was designed by Frederick A. Sabbaton, an engineer who specialized in gasworks. He was superintendent of the Troy Gas Works from 1862 to 1890. The building measures 65 feet tall to the top of the cupola.

The gasholder house was in use until the 1920s, at which time gas production was shifted to a central plant in Menands. The Troy Gas Light Company was acquired by Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. in 1929. During the 1930s, the metal tank was dismantled and sold for scrap. Over the years, the empty brick building was used for storage, and occasionally as a theater and music performance venue.

Fortunately, the rarity and importance of this building was recognized, and it has been preserved. The building is now on the State and National Register of Historic Places and has been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record. Another example of this building’s importance is that the half-elevation created for the HAER report serves as the logo for the Society for Industrial Archeology. We at the Hudson Mohawk Gateway are proud to be able to count the Gasholder House as one of our local industrial treasures.