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166 ALBANY COUNTY.
of an extensive U. S. arsenal. It has a bank, printing office, 8 churches,1 and extensive manu¬
factures of woolen goods, bells, butts and hinges, castings, carriages, and malt. The annual
aggregate value of manufactured products is about $1,000,000.2 Green Islam! (p. v.)
was incorp. Oct. 14, 1853. Pop. 1,324. It contains. 2 churches,3 a car factory, brass, malleable
iron, and 2 iron founderies and R. R. machine shops. It is also the seat of considerable lumber
trade.4 Colioes, (p. v.,) incorp. under general act, is a manufacturing village upon the
Mohawk.5 Pop. 6106. A dam is here erected across the Mohawk,6 and the water is con¬
ducted by canals to convenient places for factories. The whole fall is 103 feet, anti the water
is used 5 times from canals of different levels. The annual aggregate of manufactured products
is nearly $2,000,000.7 The village contains two banks and six churches,8 and a large number
of stores, shops, &c. Bogllt9 (p.v.) contains 15 houses. The Ref. Prot. D. church of this place
was organized April 14, 1784, by Rev. E. Westerlo. LishilS Kil, Mewtonville,10 and
Ireland Corners11 are hamlets and p. offices. Eoudonville is a hamlet, 2} miles from
Albany. Tivoli Hollow, on Patroon Creek, adjoining Albany, has extensive manufactures
of ag. implements, bolts, and hollowwar.e, North Albany lies on the river, north of the city,
and contains 40 houses. It includes a portion of the “ Lumber District” and several manu¬
factories. Spencerville, or West Albany, is the name applied to the recent establishments
of the N. Y. C. R. R., 3J mi. n. w. of the# city, including the cattle and wood yards and car and
engine houses of the company. The Shaker Settlement,12 in the w. part of the town,
consists of about 300 persons, living in 4 distinct families, in a manner peculiar to that people.
Town House Corners is a populous neighborhood near the eenter of tbe town, where town
business has usually been transacted. Watervliet Center (p. o.) is a hamlet. The Albany
Rural Cemetery13 was incorp. April 20, 1841, and the site selected April 20, 1844. Tlie premises
were dedicated and consecrated Oct. 7 of thesame.year. Haver (Dutch for “Oat”) and Yan Schaicks
Islands, in the Hudson above Green Island, are separated from each other and the mainland by the
“ Sprouts” of the Mohawk. Upon the approach of Burgoyne, in the summer of 1777, Gen. Schuyler
retired to these islands and threw up fortifications to check the advance of the enemy expected
from both the N-. and w. Upon the retreat of St. Leger from the siege of Eort Stanwix, no further
trouble was apprehended from the direction of the Mohawk Yalley; and Gen. Gates, upon assuming
the command of the northern army, advanced into Saratoga County. The traces of the fortifica¬
tions are still visible.
WESTERXO14—was formed from Coeymans and Rensselaerville, March 16, 1815. It lies
npon the center of the-southern border of the county. Its surface is broken and hilly, with a
general southerly inclination. The highest point in the northerly part of the town is 800 feet
above tide. The hills are very steep and irregular, and the valleys are mere narrow ravines. The
streams are Haanakrois, Basie, Wolf, Fly, and Eight Mile Creeks and their branches. These are
all rapid streams, and are* liable to severe freshets. The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam, inter-
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Ordnance department forms the guard of the arsenal, and the
men are also employed in the shops. Most of the employees are
citizen mechanics. A large number of trophy cannon are de¬
posited upon the premises-.
4 Bap. org. 1827; Ref. Prot. D., 1844; P. E., (Trinity,) 1835: 2
B. C-, (St. Patrick’s, 1839, and St. Bridget’s, 1851,) and 2 M. E.
2 The village is built on land formerly held by the Bleecker
family. It was purchased by a company of Troy capitalists and
laid out as a village, and has mostly grown up since the com¬
pletion of the canals. _ 3 Presb. and M. B.
4 It is situated upon an island in the Hudson directly op¬
posite the city of Troy, of which it forms a suburb.
6 The Cohoes Co. was incorp. March 28,1826, with a capital
of $250,000, afteyward increased to $500,000. This co. built
the dam, and constructed the canals, for the purpose of leasing
the water power. •
6 This dam is half a mile long, and the canal 2 miles long.
1 The following manufactories were reported here in the census
of 1855:
6 knitting mills, value of product................. $647,100
2 cotton factories........................................ 618,000
1 ax and edge tool factory........................... 210.000
2 bedstead factories..................................... 45,000
1 veneering factory ............................... 42,000
2 .mills...................................................... 28,000
1 machine shop and foundery.............7........ 34,200
1 tobacco factory........................................ 21,450
1 shoddy mill.................. 21,840
1 wheel factory.............. 9,000
1 straw paper factory................ 9,000
1 bobbin shop ................,...................... 6,000
There are now a considerable number of manufactories not in¬
cluded in the above list. |
8 M. E., Bef. Prot. D., Presb., P. E., (St. John’s,) Bap., and R.
0., (St. Bernard.)
9 The Dutch for “ bend,” in reference to the bend in the Mo¬
hawk; sometimes called “ Groesbeck Corners,” from Wm. G.
Groesbeck. One of the earliest settlements in the county was
made in this neighborhood.
19 Named from J. M. Newton.
11 Named from E. II. Ireland, innkeeper.
42 This community was formed in 1776, by Ann Lee and her
followers, by whom she is regarded as the spiritual mother of
mankind. It is the oldest of the kind in the U. S., and now
owns 3,000 acres, including about 300 acres of alluvial land on
the Mohawk at the mouth of the Schoharie Creek and on
Shaker Island, which are annually fertilized by the floods of the
Mohawk, and chiefly devoted to the raising of broom corn. The
whole number of buildings in the settlement is about 150,
several of which are of stone or brick. They have a commodious
church, (built in 1848,) 3 offices, 1 schoolhouse, 8 dwellings,
(suitable for 50 to 100 persons each,) 2 grist mills, 3 saw mills,
3 machine shops, fqr turning, sawing, &c., and numerous other
shops and storehouses. Their pursuits are agriculture, horti¬
culture, the manufacture of brooms and medicines, and such
mechanical trades as their own wants require. The females are
employed in household work, dressmaking, spinning, weaving,
braiding whiplashes and bonnets, and in making small salable
articles. They keep 40 to 50 horses, 100 cows, 16 yoke of oxen,
500 sheep, and young stock in proportion. “ Mother Ann” (as
their founder is affectionately named) was buried in the cemetery
near the church family.
43 This cemetery is located upon the hills west of the Troy
and Albany Road, 4 miles from the city. The grounds ne taste¬
fully laid out, and con lain many elegant monuments. .
44 Named in honor of Bev. Eilardus Westerlo, of Albany. |
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