Cohoes is a city located at the northeast corner of Albany County, New York, USA. It is called the "Spindle
City" because of the importance of textile production to its growth. As of the 2000
census, the city population was 15,521. The name is believed to arise from a Mohawk expression, Ga-ha-oose, which refers
to the Cohoes Falls and means "Place of the Falling Canoe."
History
The city is on land purchased from the local natives in 1630. The land was once part of the Rensselaerwyck manor.
In 1831, a dam was constructed on the Mohawk River above the city's waterfall. This provided
power to make the community a leading textile center with the establishment in 1836 of the Harmony
Manufacturing Company, later famous as Harmony Mills. Cohoes became a mill town and to an extent a company town. During the 1870s the mills
were enormously profitable, a result of the Erie Canal that flows past them. Mill #3, at over
1000 feet long, has been considered the longest continuous textile mill in the country at the time, although some dispute that
Lowell, Massachusetts, was in fact home to the longest mill. In 1848, Cohoes was incorporated as a village, and in 1869 chartered as a city.
Drawing of a mastodon skeleton
In 1866, during excavation work for construction of Mill #3 of the Harmony Mills, the bones of a mastodon were unearthed over a period of several weeks. The Cohoes Mastodon skeleton was on display in the
lobby of the New York State Museum in Albany,
New York, but has recently been removed for repair and restoration. A furry replica can be seen at the Cohoes Public
Library.
The 19th century saw an influx of immigrants to Cohoes to work in the mills,
particularly French Canadians from Quebec, and
Irish.
Residents of Note
Baseball player George Davis was
born in Cohoes.
President Chester A. Arthur was a schoolmaster in Cohoes in the mid-1800s. Arthur
was the uncle of Cohoes historian, Arthur R. Masten. Arthur Masten was the son of James Masten, once the Cohoes Postmaster, who
published the weekly newspaper The Cohoes Cataract in the mid to late 1800s.
Culture
The city is home to the historic Cohoes Music Hall, a Victorian opera house. Built in 1874,
the theatre hosted such personalities as Buffalo Bill Cody, Jimmy Durante, Eva Tanguay, and John Phillip Sousa. The building fell into disrepair in the mid 20th century but was later renovated
and reopened in 1974. Several professional regional theaters have made their home at the Cohoes Music Hall, and the house draws
theatergoers from around the Capital District.
Geography
Cohoes is located at 42°46′24″N, 73°42′11″W (42.773250,
-73.703110)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 11.0 km² (4.2 mi²). 9.7 km² (3.7 mi²) of it is
land and 1.3 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (11.79%) is water.
The City of Cohoes is at the confluence of the Mohawk River and the Hudson River. Cohoes is named for its most famous landmark, the Cohoes
Falls, a majestic waterfall that was discovered by the region's original settlers, the Mohawk Nation. The city includes Van Schaick Island, where the historic Van
Schaick Mansion is located, and Simmons Island.
The city borders Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 15,521 people (1,304 fewer than the 1990 census), 6,932
households, and 3,861 families residing in the city. The population density was
1,602.3/km² (4,145.8/mi²). There were 7,689 housing units at an average density of 793.8/km² (2,053.8/mi²). The racial makeup of
the city was 95.14% White, 2.16% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.03% of the population.
There were 6,932 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.3% were
non-families. 38.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from
45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,856, and the median income for a family was $42,054. Males had a median
income of $31,972 versus $25,845 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$18,416. About 11.2% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
Additional Cohoes Facts
Large knitting mills took advantage of the power of the Cohoes Falls in the 19th
Century.
In several of Kurt Vonnegut's novels the character Kilgore Trout is a longtime resident of Cohoes, N.Y. He lives in a "basement apartment" and makes his
living as an installer of aluminum storm windows and screens.
Some of author Athena V. Lord's series Z.A.P. and Zoe takes
place in Cohoes. Much of the plot, however, is set in Albany.
Some of the exterior shots for the 1987 movie Ironweed were filmed in Cohoes.
The late Len Roberts, a professor and former Cohoes resident, wrote a book of poetry entitled, The
Cohoes Theater.
Around the turn of the century, daredevil Bobby Leach practiced going over the Cohoes Falls in a barrel before he performed
the same stunt at Niagara. Cohoes residents watched this feat from the lawn or the porch of The Cataract House, the Victorian
hotel at the corner of North Mohawk and School Streets, site of the present School Street Power Station.
Hip hop group Mobb Deep was dramatically arrested in Cohoes for possession of cocaine.
External links
Coordinates:
42.77325° N 73.70311°
W
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