Commercial buildings changed with the times at the Route 20 Bohl site
Opposite Schoolcraft Street and the Schoolcraft House once stood Sloan’s Hotel, in its day reputed to be “a model hotel for 50 miles around and patronized by first class customers.” This structure had replaced George Batterman’s Turnpike tavern, which burned in the 1840s. Operated by Batterman’s son-in-law, Henry Sloan, followed by his grandson George until the late 19th Century, the hotel was then sold out of the family. The structure burned in March 1900 with the new owners barely escaping the flames.
Once standing on the corner of Western Turnpike and Foundry Road, this circa 1830 Greek Revival building was listed on the 1866 Beers map of Guilderland as “business of D. Weaver, Dealer in general merchandise and Watch Repairing.” It continued to be a commercial building into the 20th Century. Note the very early gas pump on the left and the bleachers against the building. Guilderland’s community baseball field was next door. The tiny store was taken down in the 1920s.
In the previous view of Sloan’s Hotel, the adjoining house was the Batterman house, possibly dating to the late 18th Century. Taken down in 1931, it was replaced by a residence that was later converted to commercial use. For several years, Jane and Howard Crosby operated the Guilderland Gift House there, selling home accessories, unusual gifts, party supplies, artificial flower arrangements, hand bags, and jewelry. This structure remains standing. It appears as if it had once been returned to residential use before becoming vacant.
Brothers Charles and Fred Bohl formed the Bohl Bros. Bus Company by combining two smaller bus companies in 1926. Their bus company garage replaced the small Greek Revival store on the corner of Foundry Road and Route 20. After 1931, Charles and Teresa Bohl operated Albany-Schenectady bus runs while Fred Bohl operated Albany-Cohoes routes. The company was sold in 1949.
Over many years, this structure functioned for a variety of enterprises. In 1950, it housed a gas station and repair shop with a luncheonette popular with bus riders. From 1959 until 1961, a section served as the Guilderland Library. At some point, a laundromat moved into one end, while the Town of Guilderland’s Assessor’s Office was located in a different part of the building. A 1968 blaze in the laundromat ended use of the building with the Guilderland firemen managing to save the assessor’s records at the time of the fire. The building was taken down a year later and the site is vacant today.
GUILDERLAND — The Bohl site has been the scene of commercial enterprises since the early Western Turnpike days when Batterman’s Tavern served stagecoach travelers until modern times.
Charles Bohl Inc. now owns the 13 acres of land spread across five separate tax parcels between 2298 and 2314 Western Ave. Four different developments have been proposed for the site in recent years but the cost of cleaning up toxic waste left by a defunct dry-cleaning business has stymied those plans. The current proposal, by Guilderland Village LLC, is for a Planned Unit Development, to be called Foundry Square, with expensive housing and retail space in two four-story buildings.
These photographs of various businesses once located along this section of the Turnpike/Route 20 are taken from the Guilderland Historical Society’s Photo Archive.
Bohl operated Albany-Cohoes routes. The company was sold in 1949.