Albany is a quaint little town in the heart of the Willamette Valley of the great wooded state of Oregon. The Monteith Brothers, Walter and Thomas, were the founders of Albany, Oregon. They along with others traveled along the Oregon Trail in 1847 with a team of mighty strong oxen. These two brothers were entrepreneurs in search to find adventure and stumbled across a wide, open, prairie that is now the current town of Albany, Oregon. When Walter and Thomas came across the land they fell in love with the extravagant trees and wildlife. At first sight they knew that this land was meant to be theirs. So with $400 and determination they bought 320 acres of land from Hiram Smead, with 60 acres in mind to be kept for the town of Albany. Walter and Thomas decided to name the town after their home state’s capitol Albany, New York. Walter was originally born in Ellsworth, New York giving the name to Ellsworth street. On the other hand Thomas was born in Broadalbin, New York giving the name to Broadalbin street. These two streets were some of the main streets in Albany at the time and still are today. When the Monteith brothers first settled down in Albany they were living in a small shack of a cabin that today would lie at Southwest 2nd Street and Washington Street. As imagined, they would not stay in this cramped little cabin for too long. The two decided it was time to build a home. This house was to be constructed of freshly cut lumber from the first lumber mill in Albany. The house at the time was considered to be the finest house in all of Oregon. Their home was to be built on the fence line of each others' property. They wanted the home built here so that each brother could sleep on their side of their claim. The dining room would also be located in between their properties to ensure that the two brothers would be able to eat on their own claim. During the midst of construction on the home, rumors hit Albany about the California gold r