Albany, City of

Chosen county seat of Shackelford in 1874, Albany had a 43-acre townsite donated by Sheriff Henry C. Jacobs. County clerk W. R. Cruger named city for his old home, Albany, Ga. A wooden picket courthouse was erected. The post office opened August 1, 1876. By late 1877 there were 16 buildings - homes, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith shop. Merchants were T. E. Jackson and firm of Woody & Hatcher. Physicians W. T. Baird and W. M. Powell and lawyer A. A. Clarke located here. D. H. Meyer and Edgar Rye began (1879) publishing "The Albany Tomahawk". Already on the western cattle trail, city expanded as a frontier shipping point when Houston & Texas Central Railroad built a terminus here in 1881. By 1882 a church building had been erected. Music lovers organized a cornet band. In 1883 an opera hall opened, and a permanent courthouse of native stone was built. Succeeding D. R. Britt as the school principal, W. S. Dalrymple founded an adult study club, "The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle". Albany had an academy, and then a college in 1898-1915. Local activities include ranching, petroleum production, small farming, and annual staging of the historical drama, "The Fort Griffin Fandangle". (1975)

Albany, City of is a historical marker in Albany, Shackelford County, dedicated in 1975. It is one of 36 historical markers documented in Shackelford County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 57 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7248, -99.2996 near Albany. The nearest cataloged historic site is Ledbetter Picket House (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Texas Central Railway Company, Jackson Warehouse, and Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5417000879. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.