ALBANY — The riverfront might feel disconnected from the rest of city by another river — of concrete roads and bridges, collectively known as I-787 — but the nautical tangibility that put Albany on the map lasted until the mid-19th century.

Related: Mr. Cuomo, tear down that highway!

Not far from the Delaware & Hudson building, now State University of New York System Administration, stood a harbor and pier that housed the Albany Yacht Club until 1954, according the club's history. The harbor was filled in in the late 1950s, leaving the boathouse landlocked until its eventual demolition made way for current-day Dunn Memorial Bridge.

Some of the accompanying photos depict an industrial landscape smeared with steam and coal from an active rail yard. Others show a crowd watching an annual speedboat race from New York City to Albany. Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands disembarks and Eleanor Roosevelt tours the yacht club.