89-527: The General Electric Realty Plot , often referred to locally as the GE Realty Plot, GE Plots or just The Plot , is a residential neighborhood in Schenectady , New York, United States. It is an area of approximately 90 acres (36 ha) just east of Union College . Originally an undeveloped tract owned by the college, it was sold to General Electric (GE) at the end of the 19th century to help
178-624: A National Historic Landmark in recognition of Langmuir's scientific accomplishments, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry . In 1980 the entire neighborhood was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Plot is no longer so heavily dominated by GE employees, due to the company's greatly reduced presence in the city. Houses in it remain highly valued, and residents pay some of
267-427: A ravine 30 feet (9.1 m) deep and 100 feet (30 m) wide through the center of the district. It is spanned by four bluestone arch bridges, all included as contributing properties . Many mature trees grow throughout the district. The houses within are on lots with a minimum size of 70 by 140 feet (21 by 43 m), set back 35–45 feet (11–14 metres) from the streets they front on. They are predominantly in
356-484: A central street, like the way Schenectady had developed along Union Street , thinking which had guided Glenwood and Parkwood boulevards elsewhere in the city, they imagined the area as two smaller lots divided by Wendell Avenue, a street named after a former landowner in the area. They laid out the streets in gentle curves, like the pathways in Central Park. They also tried something new on residential city streets at
445-608: A few more years. The Mohawk River at Schenectady is crossed by the Western Gateway Bridge, originally built in 1923-25, and replaced in 1971. From 1874 to 1925 the Mohawk River had been crossed by a bridge running from the foot of Washington Ave., Schenectady to Washington Ave., Scotia, a steel bridge built upon the seven piers of a former wooden bridge, built in 1808, called the Burr Bridge. The city
534-402: A household in the city in 2000 was $ 29,378 (2010–$ 37,436), and the median income for a family was $ 41,158. Males had a median income of $ 32,929 versus $ 26,856 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,076. About 20.2% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.5% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over. The largest religious body
623-542: A major industrial and economic force and helped establish the city and region as a national manufacturing center. GE became important nationally as a creative company, expanding into many different fields. American Locomotive Company also developed here, from a Schenectady company, and merging several smaller companies in 1901; it was second in the United States in the manufacture of steam locomotives before developing diesel technology. Like other industrial cities in
712-523: A month. Under the city's zoning regulations, any change to a historic building in a district that is visible from a public right-of-way must be approved by the commission. Houses in the district, already the largest in the city, have some of the highest property tax valuations in the Capital District region, from $ 200–400,000. Many residents pay more than $ 10,000 annually to the city, county , and school district. Heating bills also run into
801-613: A number of buildings have been renovated for new uses. Numerous small businesses, retail stores and restaurants have developed on State Street downtown. Price Chopper Supermarkets and the New York Lottery are based in Schenectady. In December 2014, the state announced that the city was one of three sites selected for development of off-reservation casino gambling, under terms of a 2013 state constitutional amendment. The project would redevelop an ALCO brownfield site in
890-418: A period into their early 20s. Union College established a school for black children in 1805, but discontinued it two years later. Methodists helped educate the children for a time but public schools did not accept them. In the 1830s, the abolitionist movement grew in Schenectady. In 1836, Rev. Isaac Groot Duryee (also recorded as Duryea) co-founded the interracial Anti-Slavery Society at Union College and
979-478: A prosperous glove and leather industry, as well as legacy tourism traffic to Lake Sacandaga north of Gloversville. Instead, roads were improved, automobiles became cheaper and were purchased more widely, tourists traveled greater distances by car, and the Great Depression decreased business overall. FJ&G ridership continued to decline and in 1938 the state of New York condemned the line's bridge over
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#17327796889761068-664: A variety of fields across the country. Schenectady is home to WGY , the second commercial radio station in the United States, (after WBZ in Springfield, Massachusetts , named for Westinghouse ). WGY was named for its owner, General Electric (the G), and the city of Schenectady (the Y). In 1928, General Electric produced the first regular television broadcasts in the United States, when the experimental station W2XB began regular broadcasts on Thursday and Friday afternoons. This television station
1157-531: Is a city in Schenectady County, New York , United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census , the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populous city and the twenty-fifth most-populous municipality. The city 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 , which
1246-504: Is a growing Guyanese population in the area. The top ancestries self-identified by people on the census are Italian (13.6%), Guyanese (12.3%), Irish (12.1%), Puerto Rican (10.1%), German (8.7%), English (6.0%), Polish (5.4%), French (4.4%). These reflect historic and early 20th-century immigration, as well as that since the late 20th century. The Schenectady City School District is very diverse; (71%- 2011)(80%–2013) of district students receive free or reduced lunch. The student population of
1335-455: Is about 15 miles (24 km) southeast. Schenectady was founded on the south side of the Mohawk River by Dutch colonists in the 17th century, many of whom came from the Albany area. The name "Schenectady" is derived from the Mohawk word skahnéhtati , meaning "beyond the pines" and used for the area around Albany, New York . Residents of the new village developed farms on strip plots along
1424-533: Is now WRGB ; for many years it was the Capital District's NBC affiliate. It has been the area's CBS affiliate since 1981. The city reached its peak of population in 1930, approximately 95,000. The Great Depression caused a loss of jobs and population in its wake. In the postwar period after World War II, some residents moved to newer housing in suburban locations outside the city . In addition, General Electric established some high-tech facilities in
1513-570: Is served by the Schenectady City School District , which operates 16 elementary schools, three middle schools and the main high school Schenectady High School . Brown School is a private, nonsectarian kindergarten-through-8th grade school. Catholic schools are administered by the Diocese of Albany . Edward Durrell Stone Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for
1602-773: Is the Catholic church, with 44,000 adherents, followed by Islam, with 6,000 followers. The third largest religious body is the Reformed Church in America, with 3,600 members. The fourth is the United Methodist denomination, with 2,800 members. Notable congregations are the First Presbyterian Church (Schenectady, New York) , which is affiliated with the PCA. First Reformed Church RCA is formed in
1691-679: The Aon Center ) in Chicago, Illinois (all 1970). Stone also was the architect of the former Windham College in Putney, Vermont . Windham closed in 1978 and its abandoned campus was taken over by the present-day Landmark College in 1985. Furthermore, Stone also designed Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California . Harvey Mudd College is a highly ranked private liberal arts college , and according to Travel and Leisure Magazine in 2013,
1780-492: The Capital District region's highest property taxes . Rules enforced by both the neighborhood association and the city's Historic Commission preserve its historic character. The district is mostly bounded by streets, making it roughly quadrilateral in shape. At the west, Lenox Road divides it from the college campus. Nott Street forms the northern boundary, separating the Realty Plot from Ellis Hospital until West Alley,
1869-607: The Colonial Revival or Georgian Revival architectural styles , with some in the Mission Revival , Queen Anne or Shingle Style . The Steinmetz Memorial on Wendell Avenue is the only significant open space in the district. It is named for Charles Proteus Steinmetz , the German-born electrical engineer whose research made alternating current possible. Steinmetz's house (at 1297 Wendell Avenue) stood on
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#17327796889761958-693: The Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville Railroad . The nearly 200 leather and glove companies in the Gloversville region generated considerable traffic for the line. Sales representatives carrying product sample cases began their sales campaigns throughout the rest of the country by taking the interurban to reach Schenectady's New York Central Railroad station, where they connected to trains to New York City, Chicago and points between. The bright orange FJ&G interurbans were scheduled to meet every daylight New York Central train that stopped at Schenectady. Through
2047-596: The Schenectady massacre . A total of 27 persons were taken captive, including five enslaved Africans; the raiders took their captives overland about 200 miles to Montreal and its associated Mohawk mission village of Kahnawake . Typically the younger captives were adopted by Mohawk families to replace people who had died. Through the early 18th century in the raiding between Quebec and the northern British colonies, some captives were ransomed by their communities. Colonial governments got involved only for high-ranking officers or other officials. In 1748, during King George's War ,
2136-819: The Sun Belt and abroad. Corporate headquarters for GE Vernova are now in Cambridge, Massachusetts . ALCO produced steam locomotives for railroads for years. Later it became renowned for its "Superpower" line of high-pressure locomotives, such as those for the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1930s and 1940s. During World War II , it converted to support the war, making tanks for the US Army. As diesel locomotives began to be manufactured, ALCO joined with GE to develop diesel locomotives to compete with GM's EMD division . But corporate restructuring to cope with
2225-515: The United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 11.0 square miles (28.49 km ), of which 10.9 square miles (28.23 km ) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km ) of it (1.27%) is water. It is part of the Capital District , the metropolitan area surrounding Albany , the state of New York's capital. Along with Albany and Troy , it is one of the three principal population and industrial centers in
2314-784: The 17th century, one of the oldest churches in the town. St George's Episcopal Church dates back to 1735; it shared facilities with the Presbyterians for more than 30 years. Amtrak , the national passenger rail system, provides regular service to Schenectady, with Schenectady station at 322 Erie Boulevard. Trains include the Ethan Allen , Adirondack , Lake Shore Limited , Maple Leaf , and Empire Service . Schenectady also has freight rail service from Canadian Pacific Railway and Norfolk Southern Railway . The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) provides bus service throughout Schenectady along with connections to
2403-529: The 1900s and into the early 1930s, the line was quite prosperous. In 1932 the FJ&;G purchased five lightweight "bullet cars" (#125 through 129) from the J. G. Brill Company . These interurbans represented state-of-the-art design: the "bullet" description referred to the unusual front roof that was designed to slope down to the windshield in an aerodynamically sleek way. FJ&G bought the cars believing that there would be continuing strong passenger business from
2492-958: The 1960s, his firm was among the largest architectural practices in the United States, with over 200 employees and offices on both coasts. Buildings from this period include the North Carolina State Legislative Building in Raleigh (1960), the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology in Nilore (1961), the National Geographic Society building in Washington, D.C. (1961), the Museo de Arte in Ponce, Puerto Rico (1961),
2581-892: The Anti-Slavery Society of Schenectady in 1837. Freedom seekers were supported via the Underground Railroad route that ran through the area, passing to the west and north to Canada, which had abolished slavery. In 1837 Duryee, together with others who were free people of color , co-founded the First Free Church of Schenectady (now the Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church). He also started a school for students of color. The abolitionist Theodore S. Wright , an African-American minister based in New York City, spoke at
2670-587: The College Meadow, was a 30-acre (12 ha) parcel to the west; the other, the College Woods, was 75 acres (30 ha) in size and located immediately to the east of the college. Prominent citizens of the city called for the land to be developed into a park, and a petition to that effect gained 2,200 signatures. The college proposed to lease the land to the city for that purpose, but at a very high annual rate. Shortly afterward, several members of
2759-708: The Deep South. It was one of many such mills in upstate whose products were part of the exports shipped out of New York City. The city and state had many economic ties to the South at the same time that some residents became active in the abolitionist movement. Schenectady benefited by increased traffic connecting the Hudson River to the Mohawk Valley and the Great Lakes to the west and New York City to
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2848-622: The Fort Orange area, they may have anticipated working as fur traders, but the Beverwijck (later Albany) traders kept a monopoly of legal control. The settlers here turned to farming. Their 50-acre lots were unique for the colony, "laid out in strips along the Mohawk River", with the narrow edges fronting the river, as in French colonial style . They relied on rearing livestock and wheat. The proprietors and their descendants controlled all
2937-743: The French and Indians attacked Schenectady again, killing 70 residents. In 1765, Schenectady was incorporated as a borough. During the American Revolutionary War the local militia unit, the 2nd Albany County Militia Regiment , fought in the Battle of Saratoga and against Loyalist troops. Most of the wars in the Mohawk Valley were fought further west on the frontier in the areas of the German Palatine settlement which
3026-702: The Hudson Valley beginning in 1614, the Mohawk called their settlement skahnéhtati, , also transiliterated to ‘’Sche-negh-ta-da”, meaning "beyond the pines", referring to a large area of pine barrens between the Mohawk settlements and the Hudson River. About 3,200 acres of this unique ecosystem are now protected as the Albany Pine Bush . Eventually, this word entered the lexicon of the Dutch settlers. The settlers in Fort Orange used skahnéhtati to refer to
3115-424: The Mohawk River at Schenectady. The bridge had once carried cars, pedestrians, and the interurban, but ice flow damage in 1928 prompted the state to restrict its use to the interurban. When the state condemned the bridge for interurban use, the line abandoned passenger service, and the bullet cars were sold. Freight business had also been important to the FJ&G, and it continued over the risky bridge into Schenectady
3204-472: The Mohawk Valley, in the early 20th century, Schenectady attracted many new immigrants from eastern and southern Europe, as they could fill many of the new industrial jobs. It also attracted African Americans as part of the Great Migration out of the rural South to northern cities for work. General Electric and American Locomotive Company (ALCO) were industrial powerhouses, influencing innovation in
3293-603: The Mohawk had cultivated these bottomlands for maize for centuries. Van Curler took the largest piece of land; the remainder was divided into 50-acre plots for the other first fourteen proprietors; Alexander Lindsey Glen, Philip Hendrickse Brouwer, Simon Volkertse Veeder, Pieter Adrianne Van Wogglelum, Teunize Cornelise Swart, Bastia De Winter atty for Catalyn De Vos, Gerrit Bancker, William Teller, Pieter Jacobse Borsboom, Pieter Danielle Van Olinda, Jan Barentse Wemp(le), Jacques Cornelize Van Slyck, Marten Cornelize Van Esselstyn, and Harmen Albertse Vedder. As most early colonists were from
3382-821: The New England Science Center in Worcester, Massachusetts . Stone was born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas . He attended the University of Arkansas , where he joined the Sigma Nu Fraternity, Harvard and M.I.T. , but did not earn a degree. In 1927, he won the Rotch Travelling Scholarship, which afforded him the opportunity to travel through Europe on a two-year stipend. Stone was impressed by
3471-450: The Schenectady settlement. They were among the few métis who seemed to move from Mohawk to Dutch society, as they were described as "former Indians", although they did not always have an easy time of it. In 1661 Jacques inherited what became known as Van Slyck's Island from his brother Marten, who had been given it by the Mohawk. Van Slyck family descendants retained ownership through the 19th century. In 1664, an English fleet conquered
3560-903: The Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California (1955), the Stuart Pharmaceutical Company in Pasadena, California (1956), and the United States pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (1957), repeated elements originally designed for the embassy. The Stuart building and World's Fair pavilion both won awards from the AIA, and Stone was elected to the Institute's College of Fellows in 1958. Described as romanticist, Stone's ornate designs brought him commercial success. By
3649-738: The U.S. Army. He was promoted to the rank of major and served as chief of the Army Air Force Planning and Design Section. Returning to New York after the war, Stone was commissioned to design the ten-story El Panama Hotel in Panama City, Panama (1946), the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center in Fayetteville (1948), and the 850-bed Hospital del Seguro Social del Empleado in Lima, Peru (1950). Stone's best-known work
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3738-610: The ZIP code every year. Schenectady has a humid continental climate that is hot-summer ( Dfa ) bordering upon warm-summer ( Dfb .) Average monthly temperatures range from 22.9 °F (−5.1 °C) in January to 71.8 °F (22.1 °C) in July. These are estimates made by local amateur observers and aren't official as Schenectady does not have a weather station of its own (its "official" temperatures come from nearby Albany). Schenectady
3827-429: The board of General Electric , which had grown rapidly since Thomas Edison had moved his Edison Machine Works to Schenectady in 1886, announced that the company would buy the land from the college for $ 57,000 ($ 2.09 million in contemporary dollars), retiring the college's debt. They formed a subsidiary , Schenectady Realty Company, to purchase and develop the land . Their goal was to offer another incentive for
3916-638: The census of 2010, there were 66,135 people, 26,265 (2000 data) households, and 14,051 (2000 data) families residing in the city. The population density was 6,096.7 inhabitants per square mile (2,353.9/km ). There were 30,272 (2000 data) housing units at an average density of 2,790.6 units per square mile (1,077.5 units/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 59.38% (52.31% Non-Hispanic) (7.07 White-Hispanic) White , 24.19% African American , 14.47% Hispanic or Latin of any race, 8.24% from other races , 5.74% from two or more races, 2.62% Asian American , 0.69% Native American , and 0.14% Pacific Islander . There
4005-419: The central part of the state. New settlers were predominantly of English and Scotch-Irish descent. In 1819, Schenectady suffered a fire that destroyed more than 170 buildings and most of its historic, distinctive Dutch-style architecture. New York had passed a law for gradual abolition of slavery in 1799, however in 1824 there were still a total of 102 slaves in Schenectady County with nearly half residing in
4094-500: The changing locomotive procurement environment led to ALCO's slow downward spiral. Its operations fizzled as it went through acquisitions and restructuring in the late 1960s. Its Schenectady plant closed in 1969. In the late 20th century, due to industrial restructuring, the city lost many jobs and suffered difficult financial times, as did many former manufacturing cities in upstate New York. The loss of employment caused Schenectady's population to decline by nearly one-third from 1950 into
4183-451: The church's dedication and praised the school. Through the late 19th century, new industries were established in the Mohawk Valley and powered by the river. Industrial jobs attracted many new immigrants, first from Ireland, and later in the century from Italy and Poland. In 1887, Thomas Edison moved his Edison Machine Works to Schenectady. In 1892, Schenectady became the headquarters of the General Electric Company . This business became
4272-462: The city along the waterfront, with hotels, housing and a marina in addition to the casino. In February 2017, the Rivers Casino & Resort opened with 66 table games and 1,150 slot machines on a 50,000-square-foot gambling floor with a steakhouse and a restaurant lounge. The $ 480 million (~$ 587 million in 2023) residential-retail project on 60 acres includes a marina, two hotels, condos, apartments and retail and office space for tech firms. In
4361-402: The city take over the maintenance of the streets. This led to the installation of sidewalks, which diluted the original sod-gutter look somewhat. The original map of the plot shows three large parcels in the Oxford Street area to the east. Not part of the original College Woods property, they were eventually purchased by the realty company in 1914 and developed. These lots lacked the covenants in
4450-439: The city. That year the city of Schenectady had a total population of 3939, which included 240 free blacks, 47 slaves, and 91 foreigners. In the 19th century, after completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, Schenectady became an important transportation, manufacturing and trade center. By 1824 more of its population worked in manufacturing than agriculture or trade. Among the industries was a cotton mill, which processed cotton from
4539-457: The class of houses upon it." The streets were mostly named from a combination of the works of Sir Walter Scott and two prominent names in the history of New England , Adams and Lowell . Rugby Road was named due to the use of an adjacent field for rugby matches. Nott Road already existed and had been named for Union College president Eliphalet Nott . Lenox Road was originally spelled with two "n"'s. Every winter an area behind Brown School
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#17327796889764628-412: The college pay off a debt. The company's executives subdivided it, laid out streets according to a plan inspired by New York's Central Park and built houses on the land, with covenants requiring a minimum lot size and house value. Two of them were among the first fully electric houses in the U.S., used as models by GE. Also settling in the neighborhood were some local businessmen and politicians, and
4717-731: The colony of New Netherland and renamed it New York . They confirmed the monopoly on the fur trade by Albany, and issued orders to prohibit Schenectady from the trade through 1670 and later. Settlers purchased additional land from the Mohawk in 1670 and 1672. (Jacques and Hilletie Van Slyck each received portions of land in the Mohawk 1672 deed for Schenectady.) Twenty years later (1684) Governor Thomas Dongan granted letters patent for Schenectady to five additional trustees. On February 8, 1690, during King William's War , French forces and their Indian allies, mostly Ojibwe and Algonquin warriors, attacked Schenectady by surprise, leaving 62 dead, 11 of them enslaved Africans. American history notes it as
4806-488: The company's executives and researchers to stay rather than leave for a competitor or start their own companies. It took until 1903 to grade the streets and lay water and sewer lines and build the bridges. The plan for the neighborhood was developed by Parse and DeForrest, specialists in the new discipline of urban planning . They took their inspiration from New York City's Central Park , designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux . Instead of being planned around
4895-466: The district since its initial period of development in the first quarter of the 20th century. They include a modern church by Edward Durrell Stone from the late 1950s on Wendell Avenue. Most of them are otherwise unintrusive, but are not considered contributing due to their more recent construction. In 1899 Union College announced that, in order to pay off a $ 30,000 ($ 1,099,000 in contemporary dollars) debt, it would sell two adjacent tracts of land. One,
4984-434: The earlier ones, and as a result some of the houses on Rugby Road are closer together than the rest of the neighborhood. By 1927 almost all the lots were bought and built on. Since then only five new buildings have been constructed in the district. The neighborhood is one of four historic districts recognized by the city of Schenectady. It comes under the purview of its Historic Commission, a seven-member body that meets once
5073-459: The early trustees and gained representative government. The settlement was chartered as a city in 1798. Long interested in supporting higher education and morals, the members of the city's three oldest churches—the Dutch First Reformed Church, St. Georges Episcopal Church, and First Presbyterian Church—formed a "union" and founded Union College in 1795 under a charter from the state. The school had started in 1785 as Schenectady Academy. This founding
5162-405: The formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art , in New York City; the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico; the United States Embassy in New Delhi , India; The Keller Center at the University of Chicago ; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. ; and the EcoTarium , formerly known as
5251-581: The framers of those covenants would have likely included language explicitly restricting college-related activities if that had been their intent. It converted the Parker-Rice estate at 1128 Lenox Road into offices for its fundraising and alumni relations departments. An attempt to have the state's Court of Appeals , its highest, hear the case was denied. Most of the homes in the district that have additional significance have it because of their residents. Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( / s k ə ˈ n ɛ k t ə d i / skə- NEK -tə-dee )
5340-466: The grounds of the Memorial. He did research in a backyard lab, and both the lab and the house were demolished in 1944. Steinmetz also chaired the city's school board. A separate public park in Schenectady, known as The Steinmetz Park, is located on Lenox Road but is outside the GE Realty Plot district. The building at 1184 Rugby Road was developed as a primary school and remained in use for that purpose for many years. Only five buildings have been added to
5429-488: The land of the town for generations, essentially acting as government until after the Revolutionary War, when representative government was established. Beginning from the first decades of European colonization , Dutch colonists formed relationships with Mohawk women, though these did not usually result in marriage. Their children were raised within Mohawk communities, as the tribe had a matrilineal kinship system, and these multiracial offspring were considered to be born into
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#17327796889765518-415: The late 20th century decided to convert some of them to administrative offices and student housing. Residents objected, citing the deed covenants and zoning that prohibited business uses, and filed suit. In 2001 a state appeals court upheld a lower-court ruling in the college's favor. As a nonprofit the college was not a business, and its presence predated the creation of the Plot and its deed covenants, so
5607-406: The late 20th century. The early industries had left many sites contaminated with hazardous wastes. Such environmental brownfields have needed technical approaches for redevelopment. In the 21st century, Schenectady began revitalization. GE established a renewable energy center that brought hundreds of employees to the area. The city is part of a metropolitan area with improving economic health, and
5696-415: The mid-20th century. Schenectady was part of emerging technologies, with GE collaborating in the production of nuclear-powered submarines and, in the 21st century, working on other forms of renewable energy. When first encountered by Europeans, the Mohawk Valley was the territory of the Mohawk nation , one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy , or Haudenosaunee. They had occupied territory in
5785-510: The mother's clan. During the colonial era , the fur trade formed one of the important trading relationships between Indians and colonists. In response to labor shortages among Dutch colonists, enslaved Africans were imported to work on farmsteads in Schenectady. Some Euro-Indian descendants, such as Jacques Cornelissen Van Slyck and his sister Hilletie van Olinda , who were of Dutch, French and Mohawk ancestry, became interpreters and intermarried with Dutch colonists. They also gained land in
5874-507: The neighboring town of Niskayuna , which contributed to continuing population growth in the county. In the latter part of the 20th century, Schenectady suffered from the massive industrial and corporate restructuring that affected much of the US, including in the railroads. It lost many jobs and population to other locations, including offshore. Since the late 20th century, it has been shaping a new economy, based in part on renewable energy. Its population increased from 2000 to 2010. According to
5963-418: The new Museum of Modern Art in New York City, designed in collaboration with Philip L. Goodwin . Stone also designed a private residence for MoMA president Anson Conger Goodyear , the A. Conger Goodyear House , in Old Westbury, NY (1938). Both the Richard H. Mandel House and A. Conger Goodyear House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . At the outset of World War II, Stone enlisted in
6052-407: The new architecture he observed in Europe, buildings designed in what would come to be known as the International Style . He returned to the United States in 1929 and took up residence in Manhattan . Hired by the architectural firm of Schultze and Weaver, he designed interiors for the new Waldorf-Astoria Hotel . He subsequently worked for the Associated Architects of Rockefeller Center and became
6141-414: The new village at the Mohawk flats (see below), which became known as Schenectady (with a variety of spellings). In 1661, Arendt van Corlaer , (later Van Curler), a Dutch immigrant, bought a large piece of land on the Mohawk River's south side. The Colonial government gave other colonists grants of land in this portion of the flat fertile river valley, as part of New Netherland . The settlers recognized
6230-411: The principal designer of Radio City Music Hall . Stone was an early advocate of the International Style. His first independent commission was the Richard H. Mandel House , in Mount Kisco, New York (1933). This was followed by the Ulrich Kowalski house, also in Mt. Kisco (1934), and the Albert C. Koch house in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1936). In 1936, Stone was chosen as associate architect for
6319-442: The purchase of the lot. The setback and lot size restrictions were also set at this time. Another provision limited the height of any fence between properties to 3 feet 6 inches (107 cm), to make sure they were purely ornamental in purpose. When the plans were finished, the property's surveyor claimed "We have here a suburban residential plot second-to-none between New York and Chicago, either in layout, restrictions, or
6408-474: The rear property lines between houses on Lowell Road and Glenwood Boulevard, which marks the eastern boundary. After crossing Rugby Road, the line turns west to take in the houses on the south side of that street to its intersection with Wendell Avenue, then following Union Avenue back to Lenox. A small stream known as College Creek or Grooteskill flows west through the district to the Mohawk River , making
6497-595: The region since at least 1100 AD. Starting in the early 1600s the Mohawk moved their settlements closer to the river and by 1629, they had also taken over territories on the Hudson River's west bank that were formerly held by the Algonquian -speaking Mahican people. In the 1640s, the Mohawk had three major villages, all on the Mohawk River's south side. The easternmost one was Ossernenon, about 9 miles west of present-day Auriesville, New York . When Dutch settlers developed Fort Orange (present-day Albany, New York ) in
6586-606: The region. Interstate 890 runs through Schenectady, and the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) is nearby. Amtrak has a station in Schenectady. The nearest airport is Schenectady County Airport ; the nearest commercial airport is Albany International Airport . ZIP code 12345, which is used by the GE plant in Schenectady, has attracted media attention on account of its simplicity. Thousands of letters and Christmas lists addressed to Santa Claus are mailed to
6675-498: The research scientists who worked at the company's research laboratory a short distance away. They were collectively responsible for over 400 patents . Some of the key events in their research happened within the Plot, as many took things home to work on. By 1927 approximately a hundred houses had been built, including one later owned by chemist Irving Langmuir , a GE researcher, for his later life. It has subsequently been designated
6764-612: The river. Connected to the west by the Mohawk River and Erie Canal , Schenectady developed rapidly in the 19th century as part of the Mohawk Valley trade, manufacturing, and transportation corridor. By 1824, more people worked in manufacturing than agriculture or trade; like many New York cities, it had a cotton mill that processed cotton from the Deep South . In the 19th century, nationally influential companies and industries developed in Schenectady, including General Electric and American Locomotive Company (ALCO), which were powers into
6853-552: The school district is majority minority : 35% Black (48% Graduate), 32% White (71% Graduate), 18% Hispanic (51% Graduate), 15% Asian (68% Graduate). As of 2016, the graduation rate for the high school was 56%. Using 2010 data, there were 28,264 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.0% were married couples living together, 24.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.5% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who
6942-662: The south. The Albany and Schenectady Turnpike (now State Street) was constructed in 1797 to connect Albany to settlements in the Mohawk Valley. The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad started operations in 1831 as one of the first railway lines in the United States, connecting the city and Albany by a route through the pine barrens between them. Developers in Schenectady quickly founded the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, chartered in 1833; Schenectady & Susquehanna Railroad, chartered May 5, 1836; and Schenectady & Troy Railroad, chartered in 1836, making Schenectady "the rail hub of America at
7031-450: The surrounding cities of Albany, Saratoga Springs, and Troy. In the early 20th century, Schenectady had an extensive streetcar system that provided both local and interurban passenger service. The Schenectady Railway Co. had local lines and interurban lines serving Albany, Ballston Spa , Saratoga Springs and Troy . There was also a line from Gloversville , Johnstown , Amsterdam , and Scotia into Downtown Schenectady operated by
7120-491: The thousands. There is also a neighborhood association , the Realty Plot Association. It publishes a newsletter , The Plot Spotter , sponsors a biennial house and garden tour and works to maintain the neighborhood's historic character. Members also greet new residents with a bottle of champagne and An Enclave of Elegance , a history of the neighborhood. Union College owns several of the houses, and in
7209-645: The time" and competing with the Erie Canal. Commodities from the Great Lakes areas and commercial products were shipped to the East and New York City through the Mohawk Valley and Schenectady. The last slaves in New York and Schenectady gained freedom in 1827, under the state's gradual abolition law. The law first gave freedom to children born to slave mothers, but they were indentured to the mother's master for
7298-461: The time: the "sod gutter", by which there is no curb on a paved street, to further maintain the park-like atmosphere. Covenants in the deeds for each lot limited construction on it to one single-family house , to be sold or valued at no less than $ 4,000 ($ 146,000 in contemporary dollars), almost twice the median home value in Schenectady at that time, a value later raised to account for inflation . Construction had to commence within two years of
7387-982: The uptown campus of the University at Albany (1962), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (1962), the General Motors Building in New York City (1964), the PepsiCo World Headquarters, in Purchase, New York (1967), and the EcoTarium in Worcester, Massachusetts , the Florida State Capital complex in Tallahassee, and the Standard Oil building (now known as
7476-453: 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 year 2010 population was spread out, with 26.3% under the age of 18, 13.6% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males. The median income for
7565-647: Was a manufacturing center 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 steam turbine manufacturing facilities in Schenectady and its Global Research facility in nearby Niskayuna . Thousands of manufacturing jobs have been relocated from Schenectady to
7654-431: Was flooded to create a skating pond for residents of the Plot, who received a special lapel tag to identify themselves. The fire hydrant built for this purpose is still extant. Houses were built and sold rapidly. Some non-GE residents moved in, including the city's then-mayor F.F. Eisenmanger. In 1912 another mayor, George R. Lunn , the first Socialist mayor in New York and later the state's lieutenant governor , had
7743-417: Was part of the expansion of higher education in upstate New York in the postwar years. During this period, migrants poured into upstate and western New York from New England, but there were also new immigrants from England and Europe. Many traveled west along the Mohawk River, settling in the western part of the state, where they developed more agriculture on former Iroquois lands. A dairy industry developed in
7832-614: Was the Embassy of the United States in New Delhi , India (1959). Tasked with creating a modern building that respected the architectural heritage of its host country, he designed a temple-like pavilion on a raised podium. Frank Lloyd Wright called the embassy one of the most beautiful buildings he had ever seen, and it won a first honor award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Subsequent commissions such as
7921-582: Was west of Little Falls . Because of their close business and other relationships with the British, some settlers from the city were Loyalists and moved to Canada in the late stages of the Revolution. The Crown granted them land in what became known as Upper Canada and later Ontario. It was not until after the Revolutionary War that the village residents reduced the power of the descendants of
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