Schenectady

For the movie of a similar name, see Synecdoche, New York.

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City of Schenectady, New York
Aerial view of Schenectady
Seal
Nickname(s): The Electric City
Located in Schenectady County in the State of New York
Coordinates: 42°48′15″N 73°55′45″W / 42.80417°N 73.92917°W / 42.80417; -73.92917
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Schenectady
Founded	1765
Incorporated	1798
Government
- Mayor	Brian Stratton (D)
Area
- City	11.0 sq mi (28.5 km2)
- Land	10.9 sq mi (28.1 km2)
- Water	0.1 sq mi (1.27 km2)
Elevation	211-275 ft (74 m)
Population (2000)
- City	61,821
- Density	5,699/sq mi (2,200.4/km2)
- Metro	850,957
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	518
Twin Cities
- Nijkerk	Netherlands
FIPS code	36-65508
GNIS feature ID	0964570
Website	http://www.cityofschenectady.com

Schenectady (pronounced /skəˈnɛktədi/) is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 61,821, making it the ninth-largest city in New York. The name "Schenectady" is derived from a Mohawk word for "on that side of the pinery," or "near the pines," or "place beyond the pine plains."

The city of Schenectady is in eastern New York, near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. It is in the same metropolitan area as the state capital, Albany; Schenectady is about eighteen miles (29 km) northwest of Albany.

History

The area that is now Schenectady was originally the land of the Mohawk nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. When Dutch settlers arrived in the Hudson Valley in the middle of the 17th century, the Mohawk called the settlement at Fort Orange "Schau-naugh-ta-da", meaning "over the pine plains." Eventually, this word entered the lexicon of the Dutch settlers, but the meaning was reversed, and the name referred to the bend in the Mohawk River where the city lies today.

Schenectady was first settled in 1661 when the area was part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Settlement was led by Arent van Curler (Dutch: Arendt van Corlaer) of Nijkerk in the Netherlands. Additional land was purchased from the Mohawks in 1670 and 1672. In 1684 Governor Thomas Dongan granted letters patent to Schenectady to five trustees.^[1]

On February 8, 1690, during King William's War the Schenectady massacre, led by France and its Indian allies, resulted in the death of 62 of Schenectady's inhabitants.^[2] In 1748, during King George's War it was again attacked by the French and their Indian allies.

In 1765, Schenectady was incorporated as a borough. It was chartered as a city in 1798. During the American Revolutionary War the local militia unit the 2nd Albany County Militia Regiment was active during the Battle of Saratoga and in fights against Loyalist troops. Union College was founded here in 1795.

In 1887, Thomas Edison moved his Edison Machine Works to Schenectady. In 1892, Schenectady became the headquarters of the General Electric Company. Interestingly, when 5-digit ZIP codes were introduced by the U.S. Postal Service in the 1960s, the GE campus was assigned 12345, in spite of the fact that all the zip codes surrounding GE begin with 1230_.

Schenectady is home to WGY-AM, one of the first commercial radio stations in the United States. The station was named for its owner, General Electric (the G), and the city of Schenectady (the Y) ^[3]. General Electric also generated the first regular television broadcasts in the United States in 1928, when experimental station W2XB began regular broadcasts on Thursday and Friday afternoons. This television station is now WRGB, for years the Capital District's NBC affiliate, but more recently its CBS affiliate.

Schenectady once had a local streetcar system and an electric interurban passenger line from Gloversville, Johnstown, Amsterdam, and Scotia into downtown Schenectady. This was on the electrified Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville Railroad. Considerable passenger traffic for the interurban was created by the numerous leather and glove companies (178) in the Gloversville region. Sales representatives with their product sample cases beginning their sales campaigns throughout the rest of the country would use the interurban to reach Schenectady's New York Central Railroad station to connect for trains to New York City and Chicago and points between. Bright orange FJ&G interurbans were scheduled to meet every daylight New York Central train that stopped at Schenectady. Through the 1900s and into the early 1930s the line was quite prosperous but as ridership began to decline, the FJ&G purchased in 1932 five lightweight Brill Bullet cars (#125 through 129) from the JGBrill Company. These interurbans represented state of the art design: the "bullet" description came from the unusual aerodynamically sloped front roof down to the windshield. This purchase was based upon FJ&G's assumption of continuing good passenger business from a prosperous glove and leather industry and legacy tourism traffic to Lake Sacandaga north of Gloversville. Instead, roads got better, automobiles got cheaper, and the Great Depression deepened. Ridership continued to decline, and in 1938 New York state condemned the line's bridge over the Mohawk River at Schenectady. (This bridge had once carried cars, pedestrians, plus the interurban, but ice flow damage in 1928 prompted the state to restrict its use to the interurban. In 1938, the state condemned the bridge for interurban use too, and this led to abandonment of passenger service. The desirable Bullet cars were sold. Freight business had also been important to the FJ&G, and supposedly it continued over the questionable bridge into Schenectady a few more years.

Historic population of Schenectady: 13,655 in 1880; 31,682 in 1900; 92,061 in 1950.

The city was once known as "The City that Lights and Hauls the World" – a reference to two prominent businesses in the city, the Edison Electric Company (now known as General Electric), and the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). GE retains its administrative core in Schenectady, but many of manufacturing jobs relocated to the Sun Belt and abroad. ALCO's operations fizzled as the company went through acquisitions and restructuring in the late 1960s, and its Schenectady plant closed in 1969. In the late 20th century, the city experienced difficult financial times, as did many upstate New York cities. The loss of employment helped cause Schenectady's population to decline by nearly one-third since 1950. Nevertheless, Schenectady is part of a metropolitan area with better economic health.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Schenectady is located at 42°48′15″N 73°55′45″W / 42.80417°N 73.92917°W / 42.80417; -73.92917 (42.804076, -73.929289)^[4]. The altitude above sea level is 211 to 275 feet (84 m).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.0 square miles (28.5 km²), of which, 10.9 square miles (28.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (1.27%) is water.

It is part of the Capital District, the metropolitan area surrounding Albany, New York state's capital. Along with Albany and Troy, it is one of the three principal population and industrial centers in the region.

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 61,821 people, 26,265 households, and 14,051 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,699.0 people per square mile (2,199.9/km²). There were 30,272 housing units at an average density of 2,790.6/sq mi (1,077.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.77% White, 14.77% African American, 0.36% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.52% from other races, and 3.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.88% of the population. There is a growing Guyanese population in the area.

There were 26,264 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.0% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,378, and the median income for a family was $36,458. Males had a median income of $30,869 versus $25,292 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,076. About 16.8% of families and 20.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.5% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

The mayor is Brian Stratton.

Rail transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides regular service to Schenectady. Schenectady also has freight rail service from Canadian Pacific Railway and CSX Transportation.

Places of interest

Proctor's Theatre

An accordion-playing guide welcomes visitors to a restored Dutch home in the Schenectady Stockade District.

Schenectady City Hall

• Proctor's Theatre is an arts center. Built in 1926 as a vaudeville/movie theater, it has been refurbished. It is home to "Goldie," a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ. Proctor's was also the site of one of the first public demonstrations of television, projecting an image from a studio at the GE plant a mile [2 km] away. Today, Proctors is home to 3 theaters including the historic Mainstage at Proctors, the GE Theatre at Proctors and 440 Upstairs at Proctors.
• The Stockade Historic District, which features dozens of Dutch and English Colonial houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, is New York's first National Register historic district, designated in 1965. It is named after the stockade fence that originally surrounded the settlement.
• The GE Realty Plot, located near Union College, was built by General Electric Company executives and features lovely 18th and early 19th century homes. The historic neighborhood is unique for its eclectic collection of grand homes in a variety of architectural styles, including Tudor, Dutch Colonial, Queen Anne, and Spanish Colonial. The Plot is home to the first all electric home in the United States, and is one of the first planned residential neighborhoods in the US. The Plot also hosts an annual House and Garden Tour.
• Union College, adjacent to the GE Realty Plot, is the oldest planned college campus in the United States. The Union campus features Jackson's Garden, with eight acres (32,000 m²) of formal gardens and woodlands, and the unique 16-sided Nott Memorial building, built in 1875.
• Central Park is the crown jewel of Schenectady's parks. Central Park is the highest elevation point in the city. The Common Council voted in 1913 to purchase the land for the present site of the park. The park features an acclaimed rose garden, Iroquois Lake, and a stadium tennis court which was the former home to the New York Buzz of the World Team Tennis league (as of 2008).Central park was named after New York City's Central Park because both parks were designed by the same people. Schenectady's Central Park was used to film the ice skating scenes in the remake of the movie 'The Time Machine',yet it is supposed to be NYC's Central Park.
• The Schenectady Museum features exhibits on the development of science and technology. It contains the Suits-Bueche Planetarium.
• Schenectady City Hall is the focal point of government in the city. It was designed by McKim, Mead and White and built in 1933.
• Located in Schenectady is its Municipal Golf Course. It's an 18-hole championship facility sited among oaks and pines.

  The course was designed in 1935 by Jim Thompson under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program. The Schenectady Municipal Golf Course stretches to 6,600 yards (6000 m) and features fast, undulating greens and tight fairways with grasses and native vegetation. The course was ranked by Golf Digest as a "Best Places to Play in 2004" and received a three-star rating.

• Jay Street, located between Proctors and City Hall, is a short street partially closed to motor traffic. It features a number of small, independently operated businesses and eateries and is a popular destination. Jay Street is known as "Schenectady's Little Italy". This is because there are many Italian Restaurants and Stores.
• Schenectady Light Opera Company (SLOC) is a small community theater on group on State Street in downtown Schenectady.
• The Empire State Aerosciences Museum, in nearby Glenville, features extensive exhibits and materials on aviation.
• The Edison Exploratorium, exhibits and promotes the physical development of engineering of technology that was developed or produced in Schenectady.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2007)

• Schenectady was terminal of first HVDC line in USA, the HVDC Mechanicville-Schenectady.
• Schenectady is referenced or is the setting for many of Kurt Vonnegut's books, most notably Hocus Pocus and Player Piano.
• Schenectady's General Electric plant has the ZIP Code 12345.
• Schenectady is the former home of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2005 the Hall moved to Amsterdam, New York.
• The world's first commercial TV station, WRGB still broadcasts each day from its Balltown Road studios in Niskayuna, just outside the city line, but still in Schenectady County. WRGB also did the first color television broadcast, and although "RGB" --red, green and blue—are the three primary colors used in color television, the station's namesake is actually derived from Walter R. G. Baker, a prominent General Electric Engineer who was also chairman of the NTSC. (National Television System Committee.)
• The 2008 film Synecdoche, New York is partially set in and takes its name from Schenectady.
• The official song of Schenectady, entitled "Our Schenectady," was composed by John Van Laak and was sung by Judi Merriam. It was adopted by the Schenectady City Council on January 30, 1995. Immediate protests and disagreements arose from the population for the contrived lyrics and style of the song as well as the manner in which the city council adopted it without input. Lyrics are:

In Schenectady

Our Schenectady

What a warm and friendly place it is to be

Nestled among plains and hills

With a beautiful river that always gives us thrills

And stores and shops with all that one might need or wish to see

And legends and tales and lots of history

Oh Schenectady

Our Schenectady

Let us now plan and help to make it grow

If we will all do our best

Then others can do the rest

For places to study and learn in

Places to work and earn in

Places to live in happiness

Source: Daily Gazette January 31, 1995 p. B1

• The notable sleep-talker Dion McGregor had a dream (the audio recorded by his roommate) in which he was a member of a Dorothy Lamour fanclub purchasing sixteen train tickets to Schenectady.
• From the television program, "The Honeymooners," Trixie's mother was from Schenectady.
• On the ABC-TV series Ugly Betty, Marc St. James (played by Michael Urie) grew up in Schenectady.

• On one episode of All In The Family, Edith(played by Jean Stapleton), mentions that to go to Buffalo, New York, by way of the Thruway, it took her at least 4 hours to go through Schenectady.

Notable residents

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• Grace Adler, one of the lead characters on NBC's Will and Grace was from Schenectady.
• Stephen Alexander, (1806-1883), noted astronomer, mathematician, and educator^[6]
• Horatio Allen, (1802-1889), born in Schenectady, noted railroad engineer and inventor^[6]
• Ralph Alpher (1921-2007), a noted cosmologist who won the National Medal of Science for his seminal work on the Big Bang Theory, worked in Schenectady for 50 years, first at General Electric and then at Union College.
• President Chester Arthur lived in Schenectady while attending Union College
• Phil Autelitano, born in Schenectady, author, former publisher of South Florida's Beachcomber Magazine and current CEO of Uncle Sam's Printing
• Jason Bittner, drummer for Shadows Fall
• Science fiction author Pat Cadigan was born in Schenectady.
• President Jimmy Carter, a US Navy lieutenant at the time, began graduate studies in nuclear physics at Union College starting in March, 1953, but left in July, 1953 after his father's death to tend to the family peanut farm. ^[7]
• Jackie Craven, architectural writer
• Ann B. Davis (Alice on The Brady Bunch) was born in Schenectady
• Prince John Owen Dominis, the consort of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii
• Jamie Dukes, an American football player born in Schenectady
• Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, Seventh Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul, was born in Schenectady.
• Kevin Greene, Outside Linebackers Coach of the Green Bay Packers.
• Actress Patricia Kalember was born in Schenectady.
• Irving Langmuir Awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
• Sir Charles Mackerras, the famous Australian conductor, was born in Schenectady while his father was taking an electrical-engineering course. See Medallion man
• Simeon Butler Marsh (1798-1875), journalist, hymn writer, lived in Schenectady; buried in Vale Cemetery.
• Ray Nelson, science fiction author and cartoonist was born in Schenectady.
• Eliphalet Nott (1773-1866), longtime president of Union College.
• Shirley Muldowney, the First Lady of Drag Racing was born and raised in Schenectady.
• Basketball coach Pat Riley was born and raised in Schenectady. The Schenectady High School athletics wing was named after him after he donated a substantial amount of money for its creation.
• Don Rittner Author and historian lives in Schenectady
• Presidential candidate William Seward attended Union College before losing the election against Abraham Lincoln
• Ron Rivest, Turing award winner, the "R" in RSA cryptography
• Mickey Rourke was born in Schenectady
• Director John Sayles was born and raised in Schenectady; the Schenectady High school of fine arts is named after him.
• Schenectadyfan, hip-hop blogger.^{[citation needed]}
• Nehemiah Shumway (1761-1843), teacher and composer, lived in Schenectady.
• Simon J. Schermerhorn (1827-1901), U.S. representative.
• Charles Proteus Steinmetz, mathematician, electrical engineer, developer of alternating current.
• Samuel S. Stratton, mayor, U.S. representative.
• John Tudor, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Deborah Van Valkenburgh, co-star in the cult classic movie The Warriors was born in Schenectady.
• Author Kurt Vonnegut lived in Schenectady while working for GE in the early 1950s.
• George H. Wells (1833-1905), Confederate officer, attorney and member of the Louisiana State Senate

Gallery

Proctor's Theatre

Schenectady City Hall, front

Sister city

• Nijkerk, Netherlands

References

• "The Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville RR: The Sacandaga Route to the Adirondacks". Randy Decker, Arcadia Publishing.
• " Our Railroad: The Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville RR 1867 to1893". Paul Larner, St. Albans, VT.

External links

• City of Schenectady (official website)
• Schenectady County Historical Society
• Visit Schenectady (tourist information)
• Schenectady County Chamber of Commerce
• City of Schenectady Info
• Schenectady City Court information
• Schenectady/Nijkerk Council
• Central Park Rose Garden
• Daily Gazette, the local newspaper on line
• Schenectady Blue Jays who Made the Major Leagues
• Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium
• Schenectady Museum Amateur Radio Association
• Stockade Historic District
• GE Realty Plot
• New York State Heritage Areas

v • d • e Capital District, New York Central Communities Albany • Schenectady • Troy Largest communities (over 20,000 in 2000) Bethlehem • Clifton Park • Town of Colonie • Glenville • Guilderland • Niskayuna • Queensbury • Rotterdam • Saratoga Springs Medium-sized communities (10,000 to 20,000 in 2000) City of Amsterdam • Brunswick • Cohoes • East Greenbush • Glens Falls • Gloversville • North Greenbush • Schodack • Watervliet • Malta Small communities (5,000 to 10,000 in 2000) Town of Amsterdam • Ballston Spa • Cobleskill • Village of Colonie • Duanesburg • City of Johnstown • Town of Johnstown • Kinderhook • Mechanicville • New Scotland • Rensselaer • Sand Lake • Scotia • Town of Stillwater • Town of Waterford Counties Albany • Columbia • Fulton • Greene • Montgomery • Rensselaer • Saratoga • Schenectady • Schoharie • Warren • Washington

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Schenectady County, New York County seat: Schenectady City Schenectady Towns Duanesburg | Glenville | Niskayuna | Princetown | Rotterdam Villages Delanson | Scotia CDPs Duanesburg | Duane Lake | East Glenville | Mariaville Lake | Niskayuna | Pattersonville-Rotterdam Junction | Rotterdam Other hamlet Alplaus

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