State Street Campus

The first classes were held at the newly created New York State Normal School on December 18, 1844 in the former Mohawk & Hudson Railway Building, later known as Van Vechten Hall. The street address was 115-121 State Street. Use of the State Street Building’s second and third floors were donated by City of Albany rent free for five years. The street floor continued to be occupied by local businesses. The City also donated $500.00 to renovate the building. The initial enrollment was 29 students taught by two faculty: Principal David Page and Professor George R. Perkins. By the end of the session, 98 students were in attendance, "an equal number from each sex." Within a year, the building housed 259 students. Van Vechten Hall reverted to the City of Albany’s control in 1849 when the State Normal School moved into its first permanent building located two blocks away on the corner of Lodge and Howard Streets. Van Vechten Hall was demolished in the early nineteen sixties to construct the IBM Building.