Troy Gas Light Company
Encyclopedia
The Troy Gas Light Company was a gas lighting
company in Troy
, New York
, United States
. The Troy Gasholder Building is one of only ten or so remaining examples of a type of building that was common in Northeastern urban areas during the 19th century. It was designed by Frederick A. Sabbaton who was a prominent gas engineer in New York State. Originally sheltering a telescoping iron storage tank
for coal gas
, the brick gasholder house is an imposing structure from a significant period in the history of Troy. For twenty-seven years the company held a monopoly on the manufacture of illuminating gas in the city. In the past the building has been opened for musical performances.
Gasholder houses were built to protect the iron gas holder from the elements, and enabled it to be built from thinner plates. A gasholder house provided a number of advantages:
The gasholder house also provides economic advantage by reducing the condensation of gas in cold weather, and provided an attractive architectural element of the gas complex.
The gasholder house in Troy, NY bears a plaque from 1873, and the structure appears on an insurance map from 1875. There are eleven known gasholder houses in the United States, with the structure in Troy, NY being one of the largest remaining structures of this type.
Extending along Fifth Avenue to Liberty Street was a coal shed; it was rectangular in plan, and 200 feet (61 m) by 34 feet (10.4 m). The shed was brick, with an iron doors along Fifth Avenue, with a wooden cornice, measuring 28 feet (8.5 m) to the cornice.
Adjoining the south end of the coal shed, was the retort hourse, trapezoidal in plan, measuring 200 feet (61 m) by 50 feet (15.2 m), with its longitudinal axis running east to west. It was a brick structure, with iron roof beams, and measured 22 feet (6.7 m) to the cornice. The retort house is the core of the operations. It is where coal was burned to produce a crude form of the gas.
Fronting on Hill Street, and adjoining the retort building, at the southwest corner was the condenser building. This small rectangular building was rectangular in shape and 10 by 20 feet (6.1 m) with a brick façade. The condensers separated coat tar from the crude gas.
Adjoining the condenser building on the north was the exhauster building, or pump that force gas through the system into the holders. A 12 horsepower engine was used to drive the pumps or the exhausters powering this system. Off the north-side of this building was another small building housing a 75 horsepower steam boiler, both of these buildings were one story.
In the open space in the middle of the block north of the retort house, and west of the coal shed were two iron gas holders, each 50 feet (15.2 m) in diameter, neither contained in a gasholder house.
At the northwest corner of the property was the purifying building where sulfur was removed from the gas. This building was a two story brick structure and measured 35 by 49 feet (14.9 m). Adjoining this building on the south was a two story building containing the meters, and steam heated offices.
At the south end of the property was another coal shed, built of brick and 24 feet (7.3 m) high. A tar well was also located at this spot. The company also had coal on a dock at the foot of Division Street, seven blocks away. There was also an additional coal shed 100 feet (30.5 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, 130 feet (39.6 m) to the north of the gasholder house. In the 1870s the company burned gas coal supplied by Freeman Butts of Cleveland, Ohio.
, prepared plans and specifications for The Clermont
. Frederick Sabbaton's two brothers, and two sons were all employed as gas engineers. Sabboton supervised, constructed, and owned gas works in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and throughout New York State. He was also involved in the manufacturing of aniline dye, made from coal tar
, and designed a gas governor valve.
The gasholder house was in operation in 1912, and taken out of service during the 1920s when a new central plant was built in Menands, NY. In the 1930s the gasholder was removed and sold as scrap metal. The gasholder house has been used for storage by a circus manager, and for marching practice by local bands. It is used for storage and a garage, presently.
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
company in Troy
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Troy Gasholder Building is one of only ten or so remaining examples of a type of building that was common in Northeastern urban areas during the 19th century. It was designed by Frederick A. Sabbaton who was a prominent gas engineer in New York State. Originally sheltering a telescoping iron storage tank
Storage tank
A storage tank is a container, usually for holding liquids, sometimes for compressed gases . The term can be used for reservoirs , and for manufactured containers. The usage of the word tank for reservoirs is common or universal in Indian English, American English and moderately common in British...
for coal gas
Coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...
, the brick gasholder house is an imposing structure from a significant period in the history of Troy. For twenty-seven years the company held a monopoly on the manufacture of illuminating gas in the city. In the past the building has been opened for musical performances.
Gasholder house
A gasholder house is a structure built to surround an iron gasholder in which gas is stored until it is needed. Before the 1870s, most iron gasholders were constructed without a building structure, but following practices already common in the New England, gasholders houses were adopted in New York. Additionally, gasholder houses were constructed in England as early as 1825, although the mild climate made them less of an advantage.Gasholder houses were built to protect the iron gas holder from the elements, and enabled it to be built from thinner plates. A gasholder house provided a number of advantages:
- Provides a way to withstand the wind, and the forces on the thinner iron gasholder.
- Avoids snow loads on the top of the holder, and icing of the guides that controlled the vertical movement of the gasholder.
- Prevented the freezing of water in the pit around the gasholder that provides the seal to the gasholder, thus preventing the loss of gas.
- There is also some belief that a gasholder house allayed fears about explosion from the stored gas.
The gasholder house also provides economic advantage by reducing the condensation of gas in cold weather, and provided an attractive architectural element of the gas complex.
The gasholder house in Troy, NY bears a plaque from 1873, and the structure appears on an insurance map from 1875. There are eleven known gasholder houses in the United States, with the structure in Troy, NY being one of the largest remaining structures of this type.
Troy gasholder
The Troy gasholder was a telescoping two-lift type. Its top section had a diameter of 100 feet (30.5 m) and a height of 22 feet (6.7 m). The lower section, of the telescoping lift, had a diameter of 101 feet, 6 inches, and a height of 22 feet (6.7 m). The gas storage capacity was 333000 cubic feet (9,429.5 m³) of gas. The weight of the gasholder provided pressure for the distribution of gas in the supply mains. The Troy gasholder pressure was 4½ inches. The pressure was measured in inches, in terms of a height of column of water, because the pressure was too low to measure in the more conventional pounds per square inch.Troy Gas Light Physical Plant
The gasholder house was just one part of the complex that comprised the Troy Gas Light’s physical plant. The main element of the production facilities were two block north of the gasholder house, in a block bounded by Liberty, Fifth, and Washington Street, bounded by the tracks of the New York Central, the present site of the Little Italy Farmers Market.Extending along Fifth Avenue to Liberty Street was a coal shed; it was rectangular in plan, and 200 feet (61 m) by 34 feet (10.4 m). The shed was brick, with an iron doors along Fifth Avenue, with a wooden cornice, measuring 28 feet (8.5 m) to the cornice.
Adjoining the south end of the coal shed, was the retort hourse, trapezoidal in plan, measuring 200 feet (61 m) by 50 feet (15.2 m), with its longitudinal axis running east to west. It was a brick structure, with iron roof beams, and measured 22 feet (6.7 m) to the cornice. The retort house is the core of the operations. It is where coal was burned to produce a crude form of the gas.
Fronting on Hill Street, and adjoining the retort building, at the southwest corner was the condenser building. This small rectangular building was rectangular in shape and 10 by 20 feet (6.1 m) with a brick façade. The condensers separated coat tar from the crude gas.
Adjoining the condenser building on the north was the exhauster building, or pump that force gas through the system into the holders. A 12 horsepower engine was used to drive the pumps or the exhausters powering this system. Off the north-side of this building was another small building housing a 75 horsepower steam boiler, both of these buildings were one story.
In the open space in the middle of the block north of the retort house, and west of the coal shed were two iron gas holders, each 50 feet (15.2 m) in diameter, neither contained in a gasholder house.
At the northwest corner of the property was the purifying building where sulfur was removed from the gas. This building was a two story brick structure and measured 35 by 49 feet (14.9 m). Adjoining this building on the south was a two story building containing the meters, and steam heated offices.
At the south end of the property was another coal shed, built of brick and 24 feet (7.3 m) high. A tar well was also located at this spot. The company also had coal on a dock at the foot of Division Street, seven blocks away. There was also an additional coal shed 100 feet (30.5 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, 130 feet (39.6 m) to the north of the gasholder house. In the 1870s the company burned gas coal supplied by Freeman Butts of Cleveland, Ohio.
Frederick A. Sabbaton, engineer of the Troy gasholder
Frederick A. Sabbaton (1830–1894), was a specialist in the construction of gas works, and was the superintendent of the Troy Gas Light Company, from 1862 to 1890. Sabbaton worked extensively in New York State, and came from a family of engineers. His father, Paul A. Sabbation, was a close friend of Robert FultonRobert Fulton
Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
, prepared plans and specifications for The Clermont
North River Steamboat
The North River Steam Boat or Clermont was the first commercially successful steamship of the paddle steamer design. It operated on the Hudson River between New York and Albany...
. Frederick Sabbaton's two brothers, and two sons were all employed as gas engineers. Sabboton supervised, constructed, and owned gas works in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and throughout New York State. He was also involved in the manufacturing of aniline dye, made from coal tar
Coal tar
Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity, which smells of naphthalene and aromatic hydrocarbons. Coal tar is among the by-products when coal iscarbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas...
, and designed a gas governor valve.
Troy Gas Light Company
The Troy Gas Light Company first supplied illuminating gas in 1848. They maintained a monopoly on the manufacturing of gas until 1875, when the Troy Citizens Gas Light Company was found. Ten years later in 1885, addition competition from the Troy Fuel Gas company was created by the founding of this company. On October 11, 1889, these three companies were consolidated to form the Troy Gas Company. In about 1893, the Troy Electric Light Company (founded 1886), was merged into the Troy Gas Company. Additionally, in 1908 the Beacon Electric Company was merged into the company. In the 1926, the Troy Gas Company, joined with the Mohawk Hudson Power Corporation, which in turn joined with the Niagara-Hudson Power Corporation in 1929.The gasholder house was in operation in 1912, and taken out of service during the 1920s when a new central plant was built in Menands, NY. In the 1930s the gasholder was removed and sold as scrap metal. The gasholder house has been used for storage by a circus manager, and for marching practice by local bands. It is used for storage and a garage, presently.
Half-Elevation and truss details
See also
- History of manufactured gasHistory of manufactured gasThe history of manufactured gas, important for lighting, heating, and cooking purposes throughout most of the nineteenth century and the first half of the 20th century, began with the development of analytical and pneumatic chemistry in the eighteenth century...
- Gas lightingGas lightingGas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
- Gas works
- Coal Gas - Town GasCoal gasCoal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...
- Gasholder