#WhereinAlbany 304 Lark Street, Center Square-Hudson Park Historic District
/This week’s #WhereinAlbany post is located on the recognizable historic strip, Lark Street, where both commercial and residential structures line the busy road. Lark Street’s historical importance is indisputable and it makes up a significant portion of the Center Square-Hudson Park Historic District. The building of focus, 304 Lark Street, has emulated this trend, being home to businesses and Albany residents alike. Today, the building is home to Oh Bar, one of the most well-known Gay bars in downtown Albany. As Pride Month continues, it is important to commemorate the struggles and accomplishments of the LGBTQ community, both distant and local.
304 Lark was constructed in 1897 near the Southern end of the street, capping off the set of row houses just before the corner of Madison Avenue. During the turn of the century, the city built many similar Italianate-style row houses, giving the street a denser, ‘Manhattan-like’ atmosphere. Like many of the other structures on the Street, 304 Lark is mixed-use with a commercial storefront on the ground floor and apartments above.
As early as 1898, 304 Lark was home to merchants eligible to issue trading stamps for the Albany Trading Stamp Company. Popular in the early 20th Century, trading stamps were small paper stamps given by merchants, similar to a modern-day loyalty card.
By 1919, the merchant Louis Wise opened a business in the building after years of traveling throughout Albany and Schoharie (at least according to his newspaper blurb below). Wise was very prominent in local advertisements throughout the years (you can see all 12 of Mr. Wises’s advertisements here).
Taken by fred mckinney Nov 18, 1986 - provided by times union archive
“Since 1993 Oh Bar has served as Lark Streets safe and welcoming neighborhood bar for the LGBT community and anyone else who needs a space filled with compassion and community. Over 30 years the diversity and scope of that community has grown and strengthened and we hope to serve Lark St and the City of Albany residents for decades to come”
Throughout the twentieth century, a series of businesses quickly cycled through the building. In the span of just three decades (1960 to 1991) 304 Lark was occupied by seven separate businesses. These include: Volce’s Variety Store (1960-1969), Quernstone Antiques (?-1978), Timbuktu Imports (1979-1981), Sweet Appetit Candy Shop (1983), Pasta Express (1985-86), Prima Vera Restr. (1988), and Gihooly’s Restr & Lounge (1991). By 1992 however, 304 Lark’s commercial space became abandoned. In light of this vacancy, Oh Bar opened.
At first, the bar lacked proper advertising, possibly due to the stigmatization of the Gay community which followed the HIV/AIDS Epidemic. After the lamented closure of the State Street Pub, another Gay bar close by, Oh Bar gained significant popularity. By the mid-1990s, Oh Bar became a prominent location in Albany’s downtown nightlife, even more so for the local LGBTQ+ community.
Lark Street and the surrounding neighborhood have long served as an important location for the LGBTQ+ population in the Capital Region. In a 1999 newspaper, 247 Lark Street was shown as being part of Housing Works and providing accommodation for unhoused persons living with HIV and AIDS. The building still serves as an advocacy office for the organization. The Pride Center of the Capital Region, the oldest operating LGBTQ community center in the country, is located just off Lark Street on Hudson Ave. The Street is also home to IIOV which is located at 245 Lark Street (see our blog about this organization here).
To this day, Oh Bar continues to be an integral part of Lark Street and the Capital Region’s LGBTQ+ community. It is open every day from 2 pm and offers a variety of nightly events, drinks specials, and a shaded patio to enjoy.
By Liam Kelley
““If you’re Gay, Straight, Questioning, or otherwise, as long as you’re awesome, we welcome you to come check out OH Bar!!””
Above photos courtesy of Oh Bar
304 lark inventory sheet (1) - provided by cultural resource information system
304 lark inventory sheet (2) - provided by cultural resource information system
Louis wise’s blurb Mar 4, 1921 - altamont enterprise (image provided by guilderland public library)
Oh bar advertisement Nov 1, 1995 - capital neighbors (image provided by albany public library)
Cultural Resource Information System
Center Square-Central Park Historic District
Albany City Directories, 1960-1992
Waite, Diana S. Albany Architecture. New York: Mount Ida Press, 1993.