Northern Survey Company, Albany, NY

Crandall Public Library

Grandma Spicer's Home, Clarks Corner, Moreau, Saratoga County, NY circa 1890 - Image Source

Collection Facts

Extent:

132

Dates of Original:

1878-1900

Historical Context

The Northern Survey Company was established in 1878 and stayed in business for two decades until about 1900. Its owner and manager, Corydon Waterman Higgins, sent itinerant photographers across New York State, western New England, and even into the Midwest, to take photographs of houses, farms, businesses, and public buildings. Prints were developed from Higgins’ own dry plate glass negatives at the Albany offices, and then salesmen were sent back to the communities to find customers.

Scope of Collection

Today these photographs can be identified by the company name printed boldly on their mats. However, many are unidentified as to individual subjects or locations. Where we can, we’ve written captions based on any clues found on the photographs themselves.

We want to thank repositories and private collectors who loaned us their Northern Survey Company images for our 2019 exhibition, “Old Homesteads & Good Residences: 19th Century Photographs of the Northern Survey Company of Albany, NY” and have agreed to publish them here on New York Heritage.

This video provides a brief overview of the collection: https://youtu.be/wJOexwgqaYE