Schenectady, NY

Schenectady (/skəˈnɛktədi/ skə-NEKT-ə-dee)^[2][3] 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 25th-most populous municipality.^[4] 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 is about 15 mi (24 km) southeast.^[5]

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.^[6] Residents of the new village developed farms on strip plots along the river.

Union College, the first private nondenominational institution of higher education in the United States, and the second college established in the State of New York, was chartered in Schenectady in 1795.^[7]

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 (GE) and American Locomotive Company, which were powers into 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.