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Historic Cherry Hill tells a story of America through the lives and experiences of five generations of an Albany, New York, family. One of Albany's most recognizable landmarks, Cherry Hill was built in 1787 for Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer.
Cherry Hill is a historic house located on South Pearl Street (New York State Route 32) in Albany, New York, United States. It is a timber frame structure dating to the late 18th century. In 1971 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of the first properties in the city to receive that designation.
One of Albany's most recognizable landmarks, Cherry Hill was built in 1787 for the household of Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer and continuously lived in until 1963 by extended family, enslaved people, descendants, and servants—who left artifacts, documents, and stories behind.
More than just a historic house museum, Cherry Hill is a family home brimming with thousands upon thousands of artifacts and manuscripts spanning three centuries. After five generations of Van Rensselaer family ownership, Emily Rankin, the last Cherry Hill descendant, bequeathed her house and its contents to “the people of New York State.”.
Historic Cherry Hill tells a story of America through the lives and experiences of one Albany household. Built in 1787 for Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer, Cherry Hill was lived in by extended family, enslaved people, descendants, and servants—who left artifacts, documents, and stories behind.
Albany's South End, where Cherry Hill is located, became home to African Americans, Germans, Italians, and Jews from Eastern Europe by the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1876, evidence of industrialization surrounded Cherry Hill.
This large, clapboarded Georgian-style home was built in 1787 by Philip Van Rensselaer, a member of the Albany region’s largest landholding family. Van Rensselaer and his descendants filled the house with Chippendale furniture, porcelain, silver, and art.
