There are many narrow streets, paved as of old with col)l)lestones, to remind us of a former day; but there are also some noble thoroughfares, chief among them being State Street, which is accounted one of the broadest streets in the country, and was, until quite recently, only second to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. The chief object that challenges the attention from State Street, and, indeed, the principal attraction of Albany to strangers, is, of course, the Capitol. Its architectural beauty and commanding position conspire to render it one of the most imposing buildings in the world. The effect of the steep approach is augmented by the pyramidal tiers of steps, up which a regiment might pass with tmbroken ranks.
The structure is of Maine granite, built in the style of the French renaissance, and is surmounted by a tower and dome, from which the eye may sweep over sixty miles of country to rest u])on the blue profiles of the Catskills, or follow the windings of the river, or return to trace the streets that are spread like a map at our feet. There is the City Hall, that was built in 1882, carrying in the spirit of its architectural design a suggestion of the Hollandish origin of the city. There are the two cathedrals -- one to the north and the other southward -- and numerous churches that testify to the religious sentiment still animating the descendants and successors of those who nodded to the preaching of Domine