The 96-acre National Historic District covering downtown Troy preserves one of the most intact 19th-century commercial and residential streetscapes in the northeastern United States. The wealth generated by iron foundries, stove manufacturing, and the famous detachable-collar industry funded a building boom from the 1820s through the 1880s that left Broadway and the surrounding streets lined with Italianate brownstones, cast-iron commercial facades, and Greek Revival civic buildings. Unlike many American cities, Troy never had the money or inclination to tear them down.
The best approach is to walk from the Hudson riverfront west along State Street, then south on Second Street — this covers the music hall, the Hart-Cluett Mansion, and most of the key blocks. The River Street stretch north of the Congress Street Bridge has a cluster of converted industrial buildings now occupied by restaurants and bars.