Patroon Agent's House and Office

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.

From the record

“Patroon Agent's House and Office, also known as the Casparus Pruyn House and Office or Whish-Hull House and H. Rector office, is a historic home and office located on the Hudson River at Rensselaer in Rensselaer County, New York.”
Wikipedia article Patroon Agent's House and Office, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 128 National Register listings published here for Rensselaer County · listed in 1979 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 15 Forbes Ave., Rensselaer, 12144
When was it listed? August 1979
Category. building
City. Rensselaer city
Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture
National Register reference number. 79001622 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

1,180 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,180 fires within 5 miles of Patroon Agent's House and Office between 1993 and 2020, burning about 927 acres in total. 51 started naturally. 245 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	693
Arson/incendiarism	245
Debris and open burning	68
Natural	51
Smoking	45
Equipment and vehicle use	29
Railroad operations and maintenance	19
Misuse of fire by a minor	14
Power generation/transmission/distribution	9
Recreation and ceremony	7

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.2 acres	Fire Department of New York	NA
9 September 2006	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
9 September 2002	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
9 September 2002	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2016	Arson/incendiarism	6.3 acres	Fire Department of New York	N/A
8 September 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2001	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2000	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named

Every fire recorded in Rensselaer County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Patroon Agent's House and Office: 4 producers, 4 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 plant. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Quartz, Perlite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Crystal Hill Deposit	Quartz	Occurrence
Troy Plant	Perlite	Plant
Albany Gravel Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Valente Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Albany Clay Pit	Clay	Producer
Albany Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
East Greenbush Clay Pit	Clay	Producer
East Greenbush Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
Rensselaer Clay Pit	Clay	Past Producer
Rensselear Clay Pit	Clay	Producer

Every working recorded in Rensselaer County

Storms near this property

16 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rensselaer, the town this property stands in, in 16 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 11 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flood. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	1 hurt	A National Weather Service storm survey team investigated thunderstorm wind damage in the City of Rensselaer. The team determined that straight line winds (microburst) impacted the area. Based on the damage assessment, mainly trees, the team estimated the maximum wind speeds at 90 to 100 MPH. Several trees fell on homes, causing minor structural damage. One of trees fell on a porch resulting in minor injuries to a man.
August 2008	Flash Flood	Rensselaer	$4,000,000	Very heavy rainfall from training thunderstorms led to significant urban and small stream flash flooding in and near the City of Rensselaer. A State of Emergency was declared in the City of Rensselaer as numerous roads were closed, with 6 or more feet of standing water reported on city streets. Evacuations of 50 to 75 homes occurred due to the flooding. Flooding was mainly concentrated along and near the banks of Quackenberry Creek, as well as near Mill Creek.\|\|The Amtrak Station in Rensselaer was also closed due to the flooding.\|\|Flash flooding also closed Routes 9 and 20, a portion of Route 151, and Luther Road, in East Greenbush.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	$35,000	no account filed
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	$29,000	no account filed
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	$10,000	no account filed
July 1999	Lightning	Rensselaer	$10,000	no account filed
August 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	$4,000	no account filed
June 1996	Hail	Rensselaer	$2,000	no account filed
March 2008	Flood	Rensselaer	$1,000	South Street at Aiken Avenue was closed due to flooding from heavy rainfall.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	-	A tree was downed on Seventh Street.
May 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	-	Trees were reported down.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	-	Trees were reported down via Facebook due to thunderstorm winds in Rensselaer.
June 2011	Hail	Rensselaer	-	Golf ball size hail was reported during a thunderstorm in Rensselaer.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	-	A tree was reported down on wires in Rensselaer due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	-	Law enforcement personnel reported numerous small trees blown down in Rensselaer.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Rensselaer	-	Trees were blown down.

Every storm recorded in Rensselaer County

Maps showing this location

15 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1893 USGS Troy quadrangle1:62500
1895 USGS Troy quadrangle1:62500
1898 USGS Troy quadrangle1:62500 - 8 printings
1925 USGS Troy quadrangle1:48000
1928 USGS Troy quadrangle1:62500 - 5 printings
1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1950 USGS Troy quadrangle1:62500
1953 USGS Troy South quadrangle1:24000 - 5 printings
1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
1978 USGS Troy South quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Albany quadrangle1:100000
1989 USGS Albany quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Clark-Dearstyne-Miller Inn	0.1 miles	2008
William Barnet & Son Shoddy Mill	0.2 miles	2020
Van Rensselaer High School	0.7 miles	2012
Beverwyck Manor	0.8 miles	1979
W.P. Irwin Bank Building	1.3 miles	2007
Harder Manufacturing Company-Albany Woolen Company Inc. Building	1.5 miles	2021

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 79001622 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Rensselaer County	All 128 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.