Elsmere, New York

Elsmere
hamlet
Name origin: For Robert Elsmere, hero of Mrs. Humphrey Ward's 1888 book titled Elsmere
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Capital District
County	Albany
Municipality	Town of Bethlehem
River	Normans Kill
Coordinates
Settled	1920s
Timezone	EST (UTC-5)
- summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP Code	12054
Area code	518
Location of Elsmere within the state of New York

Elsmere is a hamlet of the town of the Bethlehem in Albany County, New York. The hamlet is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany. From the northeast to the southwest it is bisected by New York Route 443 (Delaware Avenue) which is also the main street and a major commuter route into Albany. Delaware Ave is also home to most of the office and retail locations in Elsmere, including the largest- Delaware Plaza. Residential buildings tend to be on side streets north and south of Delaware Ave.

History

Elsmere is situated along the old Delaware Turnpike, today Delaware Avenue (NY Route 443). Suburban residential growth began to displace the rural farmland starting in 1928 when the Delaware Avenue Bridge opened across the Normans Kill, this connected Elsmere directly to Albany. Prior to this commuters to Albany needed to travel on the narrow winding older roads through Normansville and cross a smaller lower bridge. The original center of the hamlet was the corners of Elsmere and Delaware avenues. Today Delaware Avenue from the bridge over the Normans Kill to the abandoned railroad bridge over Delaware Ave, marking the unofficial border with Delmar, is heavily commercialized with retail and offices. Many of the businesses occupy houses converted to commercial use. Delaware Plaza, built in 1955, is the unofficial "center" of town.