Cohoes
Cohoes is a city in Albany County on the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, where the Mohawk forms several channels and islands.
Understand
Cohoes, just northeast of Albany and across the Hudson from Troy, is a beautiful city that's full of lovely historic architecture. Founded by the Dutch, it flourished during the 19th century as a center of textile manufacturing. The power for the now-historic textile mills (the largest of which — the vast Harmony Mill No. 3 — you can see on the right side of the pagebanner) came from the Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk River, still the town's foremost attraction. Now a quiet town, Cohoes may feel to visitors like an ideal movie set for a drama set in the 19th or early 20th century. Most of its attractions are walkable from each other, but there's a lot to see, so consider allotting 2 hours or more if you are an architecture or history buff.
Get in
Cohoes is easily accessible by car from nearby cities such as Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Waterford.
The Capital District Transportation Authority provides bus service from the Albany Bus Terminal and Troy (4th St and Fulton) into Cohoes on Route 182 every half hour M-F and every hour Sa and Su.
Get around
The historic districts in Cohoes are walkable. There is ample free 2-hour parking in both historic districts.
See
- 1 [formerly dead link] Cohoes Falls, Mohawk River. 90 feet (27 m) high, 1,000 feet (300 m) wide, this bifurcated waterfall is somewhat of a very poor man's Niagara (that is, with much less water, no rainbow and a much shorter drop, but still impressive) and well worth a detour by itself. It is part of the Harmony Mills Historic District and just a bit past Harmony Mill No. 3, off of N. Mohawk St.
- 2 Cohoes Music Hall, 58 Remsen St, ☏ +1 518-953-0630. Box office: M-F 10AM-1PM, and open 2 hrs prior to performances. This beautiful 1874 theater is used for performances today, some of them free, and also can be visited as part of a free trip to the Hudson-Mohawk Heritage Area (RiverSpark) Visitor Center [formerly dead link] on the ground floor, which has some very interesting documents, objects, photos and memorabilia about the history of the city and is open Tu-Sa 10AM-3PM .
- Downtown Cohoes Historic District. This historic district, centered around Remsen and Mohawk Streets, is full of gorgeous historic houses and low-rise buildings from the early 19th to early 20th century, including the fanciful neo-Romanesque 1895 City Hall. The historic buildings actually extend a bit past the formal boundaries of the protected area, but it's all easily walkable.
- 3 Harmony Mill No. 3, 100 N. Mohawk St. Impressive four-story red brick industrial structure, with beautiful Victorian-era decorations. When it opened in 1872 it was the largest cotton mill complex in the world. Now refurbished into luxury loft apartments, it is well worth looking at. It is one of four mill buildings that are all on North Mohawk St. and landmarked, constituting along with the falls and housing that was built for mill workers the Harmony Mills Historic District (PDF) [formerly dead link] .
- 4 Peebles Island State Park, 1 Delaware Ave, ☏ +1 518 237-8643.
Do
Buy
Eat
- Smith's of Cohoes, 171 Remsen Street, ☏ +1 518-237-9809. Su 1-9PM; M-Th 11:30AM-9PM; F 11:30AM-10PM; Sa 4-10PM. This restaurant is in a space that dates back to 1873 and later was for a time the unofficial headquarters of the local Democratic Party machine. It has classic wood furnishings, inlaid floor tiles and a 50-foot bar. The cuisine is pretty traditional American food with some Italian influences. Dinner mains are most in the mid teens to low 20s, none more expensive than $25; dinner soups are $3-4 for a cup, $6 for a crock; dinner appetizers are $7-11.
- Tugboat Tavern, 159 Bridge Ave, ☏ +1-518-233-1085, tugboattavern@gmail.com. Daily, 3:00PM-10:00PM. They describe themselves as offering "casual dining experience in a family run environment". They serve seafood, Italian food, American food and so on and also have a full bar. Prices are gentle: Main dishes cluster in the mid-teens, with only seafood fra diavolo priced in the 20s.
- Yuan Sushi, 177 Remsen St, ☏ +1 518-874-1527. Tu-F 11AM-10PM; Sa-Su noon-10PM; M closed. Very well-regarded sushi specialist. A la carte sushi/sashimi: $3 per 2 pieces; sushi bar entrees: $9.95-21.95.
Drink
Sleep
Go next
| Routes through Cohoes |
| Montreal ← Clifton Park ← | N  S |
→ Albany → New York City |
| Rome ← Schenectady ← | W  E |
→ Waterford → Albany via Hudson River |