Albany Felt Company Complex Menands, New York

Text courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form PDF for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

The Albany Felt Company Complex has been associated with local manufacturing since its construction in 1902. It is one of the oldest continually operating companies in the Village of Menands and surrounding Town of Colonie. The Albany Felt Company Complex is a prominent architectural and visual landmark and the company is a recognized global leader in the paper industry. The property meets National Register of Historic Places Criteria A and C in the local context. The Albany Felt Company Complex is eligible under Criterion A, in the area of Industry, for its importance to the paper manufacturing industry in the Albany area during the period of significance, 1902-1954. Founded in 1895, Albany Felt grew throughout the early the twentieth century to become the world's leading maker of heavyweight industrial felt, which was critical to paper manufacturing. At that time most of the country's paper was made within a few hundred miles of the Albany area, due to the proximity of the forested Adirondack region, where wood was sourced. While many of these paper mills closed, Albany Felt thrived and expanded. The Menands mill was the principal home for Albany Felt until it expanded into both Canada and the southern United States, starting in 1952. Beginning in the early 1990s, the digital revolution began to reduce the need for paper and for the following 20 years the company solely used the building for administrative purposes, leaving behind a remarkably intact turn-of-the-century paper felt mill while they pursued other business opportunities.