This is all tentative, but for my walking tour, I’d like to focus on churches in Downtown Albany. In addition to being architecturally significant in some cases, churches served as centers of culture for respective groups, and played important roles as gathering places for some powerful people in New York’s history. For example, Theodore Roosevelt attended services at the Dutch Reformed Church when he was governor of New York. The tour itself would discuss the history of each church, while also touching upon information (if available) about congregations, religion in New York State, and architecture where applicable.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church
St. Peter’s Episcopal
View of Downtown Albany from the Hudson in the 1860s (the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is pointed out)
Dutch Reformed Church
Good–this would be a great way to talk about the changing demographics and immigration patterns Albany’s had over the years. I don’t know if Albany specifically had any anti-Catholic riots, but that would be worth checking into.
Some considerations: a lot of stuff, including churches, got moved around for the building of the legislature and state capitol in the late 19th century, so their present locations are not their historic locations. Kind of a hassle if you’re working with anything in the State/Eagle area, and something you’ll want to consider for which location you choose for your walking tour (the original? the current? both?). (But then you might also have a story to tell about politics and churches!)
You should also keep an eye out for African Methodist and African Methodist Episcopal churches, as well as synagogues, which may require more specific digging. Albany has a long history with both, and it’ll give you another angle on the demographics story.