Albany Fire Department in 1901

Albany Fire Department 1901 from All Over Albany on Vimeo.

From the wonder that is the Library of Congress's American Memory project, rare film of Albany as it was in 1901. Or at least of the Fire Department as it was in 1901. This was filmed by the Thomas A. Edison Co., and is described as "A sidewalk crowd on a main street of Albany, N.Y., watches as fourteen pieces of horse-drawn fire equipment quickly pass by."

The stately elms and horse-drawn fire engines are long gone, but make no mistake: those Belgian pavers are still there, and they crop up to the surface with astonishing regularity. And some streets in Albany are still entirely paved in granite block.

Click the pic for video! And don't miss the intrepid cyclist chasing the horse-drawn engine down the pavé on his bone-rattler starting at 1:14. (Thanks to Greg and Mary at All Over Albany for being smarter about embedding video than I am. Since video is the tool of the devil, I try not to learn too much about it.)