The building which houses the Albany Social Club has been substantially altered since it was first built in 1889 and opened as a coffee tavern. The coffee tavern did not prove popular and closed after just one year. It later reopened as the Earlsdon Working Men’s Club, run by local men. As well as a bar, the club had a reading room, games room and concert hall, a Benevolent Fund, outings, flower and vegetable shows and concerts. It flourished until 1931, when it was closed by the police due to a minor misdemeanour. After a few months it reopened with a new committee and a new name — the Albany Social Club.
It is unfortunate that the frontage has been ‘modernised’ on more than one occasion, with the roof height reduced between 1976 and 1978. Despite this, it is still possible to get an idea of the original attractiveness of the building, and of the important social role it has played in the Earlsdon community for well over a century.