Troy Gas Light Company - Troy Gas Light Physical Plant

Troy Gas Light Physical Plant

The gasholder house was just one part of the complex that comprised the Troy Gas Light’s physical plant. The main element of the production facilities were two block north of the gasholder house, in a block bounded by Liberty, Fifth, and Washington Street, bounded by the tracks of the New York Central, the present site of the Little Italy Farmers Market.

Extending along Fifth Avenue to Liberty Street was a coal shed; it was rectangular in plan, and 200 feet (61 m) by 34 feet (10 m). The shed was brick, with an iron doors along Fifth Avenue, with a wooden cornice, measuring 28 feet (8.5 m) to the cornice.

Adjoining the south end of the coal shed, was the retort house, trapezoidal in plan, measuring 200 feet (61 m) by 50 feet (15 m), with its longitudinal axis running east to west. It was a brick structure, with iron roof beams, and measured 22 feet (6.7 m) to the cornice. The retort house is the core of the operations. It is where coal was burned to produce a crude form of the gas.

Fronting on Hill Street, and adjoining the retort building, at the southwest corner was the condenser building. This small rectangular building was rectangular in shape and 10 by 20 feet (6.1 m) with a brick façade. The condensers separated coat tar from the crude gas.

Adjoining the condenser building on the north was the exhauster building, or pump that force gas through the system into the holders. A 12 horsepower engine was used to drive the pumps or the exhausters powering this system. Off the north-side of this building was another small building housing a 75 horsepower steam boiler, both of these buildings were one story.

In the open space in the middle of the block north of the retort house, and west of the coal shed were two iron gas holders, each 50 feet (15 m) in diameter, neither contained in a gasholder house.

At the northwest corner of the property was the purifying building where sulfur was removed from the gas. This building was a two story brick structure and measured 35 by 49 feet (15 m). Adjoining this building on the south was a two story building containing the meters, and steam heated offices.

At the south end of the property was another coal shed, built of brick and 24 feet (7.3 m) high. A tar well was also located at this spot. The company also had coal on a dock at the foot of Division Street, seven blocks away. There was also an additional coal shed 100 feet (30 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, 130 feet (40 m) to the north of the gasholder house. In the 1870s the company burned gas coal supplied by Freeman Butts of Cleveland, Ohio.