Schenectady was founded on the south bank of the Mohawk River in the 17th century by Dutch colonists from the Albany region. Schenectady is derived from the Mohawk word skahnéhtati, which means "beyond the pines," and is applied to the region surrounding Albany, New York. Along the riverbank, residents of the new village established farms on narrow strips of land. Connected to the west by the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal, Schenectady grew rapidly in the 19th century as a trade, manufacturing, and transportation corridor for the Mohawk Valley. In 1824, more people worked in manufacturing than in agriculture or commerce; the city, like many others in New York, had a cotton mill that processed cotton from the Deep South.
In the 19th century, nationally influential companies and industries, such as General Electric and American Locomotive Company (ALCO), developed in Schenectady. These companies and industries remained dominant until the middle of the 20th century. Schenectady was involved in emerging technologies, with GE collaborating on the production of nuclear-powered submarines and working on other forms of renewable energy in the twenty-first century. Learn more about Schenectady, NY Geography here.
History of Schenectady, New York
The area that is now Schenectady was originally inhabited by the Iroquois Mohawk tribe. When Dutch settlers arrived in the Hudson Valley in the middle of the 17th century, the Mohawk referred to the Fort Orange settlement as Schau-naugh-ta-da, which means "over the pine plains." Eventually, this word entered the vocabulary of the Dutch settlers, but its meaning was reversed, and the name referred to the bend in the Mohawk River where the city currently resides.
Contrary to popular belief, Schenectady and nearby Niskayuna were not actually inhabited by the Mohawk; at most, there were "lean-tos" in the area where weary travelers and hunting parties could rest before continuing on to the settlements near modern-day Fonda. If there were settlements in the vicinity of Schenectady and Niskayuna, they most likely belonged to the Mohican, who were pushed east of the Hudson River by 1634.
In 1661, when the area was part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, Schenectady was founded. In 1684, Arent Van Curler of Nijkerk, the Netherlands, was granted letters patent to establish Schenectady.
The town was attacked and overrun by French and Indian forces on February 8, 1690, who burned it and killed all but sixty of its inhabitants. The Schenectady Massacre is the name given to this event.
Schenectady was incorporated as a borough in 1765. It was granted city status in 1798.
During the American Revolutionary War, the 2nd Albany County Militia Regiment was active in the Battle of Saratoga and against Loyalist forces.
In 1795, Union College was founded here. Thomas Edison relocated his Edison Machine Works to Schenectady in 1887. Schenectady became the headquarters of General Electric Company in 1892.
WGY-AM, one of the first commercial radio stations in the United States, is located in Schenectady. The station was named after the city of Schenectady and its owner, General Electric (the G) (the Y). In 1928, when experimental station W2XB began regular broadcasts on Thursday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons, General Electric also produced the first regular television broadcasts in the United States. This television station is now WRGB; for many years, it served as the Capital District's NBC affiliate, but as of late, it has become its CBS affiliate.