Eagle Hill, looking west from State Office Campus entrance drive

April 1996: After a close encounter at midday with a crow eating roadkill in the middle of Western Avenue in front of the NYS Regents offices, I noticed this mound on my new topographic map of Albany. For several reasons, this site is obscure and not easily noticed by the casual driver passing by it on Western Avenue.

LOCATION: On right side (north) of Western Avenue, just beyond entrance to NYS Office Campus, after the NY 85 arterial highway. This mound unobtrusively occupies land between Western Avenue and State Office Campus, obscured and hidden by trees. A single cemetery driveway makes the summity accessible by car.

>DIRECTIONS: From downtown Albany, take Western Avenue (US 20) west to Guilderland. Cross over NY 85, then pass the entrance to the NYS Office Campus on your right. The trees that are next on the right hide the mound's edge. However, the cemetery entrance meets Western Av. at a sharply acute angle, and must be entered from the west.

>Continue past the mound, turn right onto Oxford Road, which skirts the western slopes of the mound. Make a U-turn, then turn left onto Western Avenue east Go less than 100 yards, then turn left to enter cemetery. The driveway climbs up steeply to crown, then levels on the mound's shoulder. Highest point is on right, behind cemetery fence, hidden in trees.

DIMENSIONS: At least 100 feet high. Very large base: ??? feet.

FEATURES: With no leaves on trees, Eagle Hill's top affords clear views of distant high mountain peaks: Adirondacks to the north, Green Mountains in the northeast, Berkshires to the east, and Catskills south.

A clear view of the north end of the mound is visible from the dead-end of Oxford Road. Two water tanks are perched on a shelf part way up the northeast corner of the mound. A fragment of this mound may be north across the NYS Office Campus driveway.

VEGETATION: Two small, ragged patches of hairy thyme grow in acid soil under evergreens at the highest point in the cemetery. No other strong indications of unusual, distinctive vegetation.
HISTORY: No new burials here since 1950. An aura of neglect—a forgotten place, lost in time, that few humans ever visit. Because the mound rises so high above the level plateau that is most of Albany, this atmosphere of another time and space is enhanced.

DOWSING: NA

CERTAINTY: ¶¶¶¶

NOTES: Most of Albany is a level plateau, especially the western end around this mound. This extensive flatland surrounding Eagle Hill makes it even more prominent and significant. The mound marks both the western edge of Albany, and the eastern tip of the Pine Bush.