Bidspirit auction | Large Archive of Cohoes New

Large Archive of Cohoes New York Historical Photographic Prints and Ephemera 1971-1988 - A comprehensive historical archive documenting the urban and industrial development of Cohoes, New York, alongside regional documentation of Vermont and Massachusetts. The collection is housed in over fifty brown paper envelopes, many featuring handwritten descriptive titles and dates by the original compiler. The archive contains a mixture of original color snapshots, black and white photographic prints, and reproduced historical materials. Significant subject matter includes the 1974 demolition of the N&S Shirt Factory at the corner of Saratoga and Ontario Streets, extensive exterior views of the Harmony Mills complex from 1974 and 1980, and color documentation of a large city-block-wide fire on Remsen and Howard Streets in the spring of 1988. Other documented events and locations include a June 1975 fire at the Roma Restaurant, the interior of the Cohoes Theater in 1979, and an antique flea market at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, Massachusetts from 1977. Several envelopes contain biographical clippings and prints, such as those regarding Gertrude Nealand. A set of black and white prints reproduced in 1976 features movie advertisements from 1924 Cohoes newspapers. Several color prints bear a vertical black ink edge stamp reading DEC • 78. Additional envelopes are labeled for regional interests including Bennington and Danby, Vermont, and Williamstown, Massachusetts. A wooden ruler is visible in one photograph, showing the archive is contained within a cardboard box measuring approximately 16 inches in width. The collection is in good archival condition. Most photographs have been stored within envelopes, preserving image clarity (photo 1). The 1970s color snapshots exhibit a typical age-related color shift toward magenta and red tones (photos 10, 11, 14, 15). Minor curling is visible on the edges of several color prints (photo 12). The brown paper envelopes show expected toning and occasional minor creases at the corners consistent with a working reference archive (photo 4). The black and white prints and reproduced newspaper clippings appear stable with sharp contrast (photos 5, 6, 22).