#Examining

Examining the Troy Gasholder Building; One of eleven gasholder houses left in the US.


I want to thank Bill Sage and the Sage Brothers Painting Co Inc. for allowing me to film the location and all the historical information imparted by Mr. Sage. See company link below.

The Troy Gasholder Building is one of 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. The gas used in the 19th century was not natural gas; it was manufactured gas, and it had to be produced and accumulated locally prior to dissemination. This gas was created by super-heating coal, coke (which was also a coal derivative), and water in a retort. This developed a gas that was loaded with coal tar particulates, which then had to be further purified for use. After the filtering and purifying procedures, the finished product was stored in large round metal tanks and then piped to the gas company’s customers. The derivatives of the manufacture and purification of gas by this process were highly toxic, and former gas fabrication sites require extensive environmental redress. ]1]

During the late 19th and early 20th century, America cities were ringed by gas facilities with several storage tanks of assorted sizes on its grounds. 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 composition of the neighborhoods. Additionally, the brick structure protected the iron storage tanks from the weather. [2]

Troy’s gasholder house, on the corner of Jefferson Street and 5th Avenue, was part of the Troy Gas Light Company. Its gas production plant was a few blocks away, on the block bounded by Washington St., Liberty St., and 5th Avenue. The final product was pumped to the gasholder house for storage and use. The tank held 350,000 cubic feet of gas when full. [3]

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 conceived 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. [4]

The gasholder house was in use up to the 1920s, at that time gas production was transferred to a central plant in Menands. The Troy Gas Light Company was obtained 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. [5]

Fortuitously, the scarcity and significance of this building was acknowledged, and it has been maintained. The building is now on the State and National Register of Historic Places and has been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record. [6]


[1] Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway. Troy’s Magnificent Gasholder House, https://hudsonmohawkgateway.org/troy-..., 2022
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.


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Sage Brothers Painting Co Inc.: https://web.ecainc.org/Painting-Contr...