River Street Club

River Street Club in Troy occupies one of the more architecturally intact small cities in the northeast, on the east bank of the Hudson north of Albany.

Troy grew rich on iron and textiles — the detachable shirt collar was invented here in 1827, and the city made most of America’s collars for a century afterwards. The Burden Water Wheel, sixty feet across, powered the ironworks that produced horseshoes for the Union Army and plates for the USS Monitor. That wealth left behind a downtown of Victorian commercial buildings so complete that film productions regularly use it for nineteenth-century New York.

The Hudson runs alongside, and Rensselaer Polytechnic sits above the city on the hill — the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world, founded 1824.

Facilities in restored industrial buildings tend to suit heat practice. High ceilings, heavy construction and generous floor plates give room for a proper circuit rather than a cabinet in a corner.

Troy sits off Route 7 across the river from Watervliet. Sessions book ahead; confirm what a booking includes.

Troy’s Victorian downtown is intact enough that film productions regularly use it for nineteenth-century New York, and the farmers market is among the largest in the state.