All Over Albany recently posted this futuristic illustration of Troy, New York, drawn in 1916. The image shows Troy in the year 2016: the streets lined with streamlined buses and trolleys, the sky filled with giant airships, and a rather phallic-looking building towering over downtown.

The director of the local historical society is quoted as saying that she's not sure what prompted someone to draw this futuristic vision of a town just outside Albany. But Troy became a city in 1816, which I'd say probably explains why the people of 1916 (then celebrating the city's centennial) were looking 100 years into the future.


When you look at other images from the northeast at the turn of the 20th century, it makes a lot of sense in context.

Thanks to Brian W. Bushner for the heads up.