Schenectady, New York, USA
1824 - Schenectady

Schenectady, a City, and also a Post-Township, the capital of Schenectady County, situated on the Mohawk river, 15 1/ 2 miles NW. of Albany; bounded N. by Glenville, late the 4th ward, E. by Niskayuna, S. by Rotterdam, or the Mohawk river and the County of Albany, W. by a part of the Mohawk, which separates it from the Rotterdam Islands. Since the publication of the 1st edition of this Work, the 3d and 4th wards of this City have very properly been erected into 2 separate towns, Rotterdam and Glenville. It now comprises 2 wards, and 3238 acres of improved land. The alluvial flats are extensive and rich, and the uplands, waving in gentle swells, have pleasing diversity, the soil principally a sandy loam, underlaid by clay, or clay-slate. The Sand Kill, a small but durable mill-stream, coming from the S., unites with the Mohawk in this city, and supplies valuable mill-seats. All the streams are small, but being fed by numerous perennial springs, the site of the city is well supplied with water. There are in this town 4 grist mills, 1 of which is a very superior and extensive merchant mill, 2 saw mills, a cotton factory, 2 breweries and a distillery. The cotton factory is on the Sand Kill, half a mile SE. of the compact part of the city, and has in operation 13 to 1400 spindles, 30 water-power looms, employs about 120 persons, spins 100000 lbs. of cotton annually, and can weave 7 to 800 yards of cloth per day. There are excellent sites for hydraulic works, yet unoccupied, though within 4 miles of the city there are 20 mills and factories, now in operation. These circumstances, with the many natural and artificial advantages, such as the abundance of provisions, the healthiness of the place, and the location of the Erie Canal through the very heart of this town, deserve the notice of enterprising capitalists from abroad. The corporate property of this city was formerly vested in trustees, who held, under Letters Patent, granted in 1684. Some small portions of this property have been sold, at different times, and the residue, comprising between 16 and 17000 acres, has been lately leased, in perpetuity, to individuals, at stated rents, estimated to produce an annual income of 5000 dollars, to the city and the towns of Rotterdam and Glenville.

Population, 3939: of which number 209 are persons engaged in agriculture, 349 in manufactures, and 76 in commerce and trade: there are 91 foreigners not naturalized; 280 free blacks, and 47 slaves: taxable personal property, $190100; total, $622024: electors, 725; 3238 acres of improved land; 837 cattle, 424 horses, 634 sheep: 2637 yards of cloth made in families in 1821: no returns as to common school districts, there being a Lancaster school.

1824 Gazetteer of the State of New York, by Horatio Gates Spafford

Visit Schenectady, New York, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.