Schenectady County, New York

Schenectady County, New York

Schenectady County is a place in the U.S. state of New York. It had 158,061 people living there as of the 2020 census. The main city, called the county seat, is Schenectady.

The name "Schenectady" comes from a Mohawk language word that means "on the other side of the pine lands." This name was first used to describe the city of Albany.

The county is located in the Capital District area of New York. It is part of the larger Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geographically, Schenectady County lies west of where the Mohawk River meets the Hudson River. The county includes land on both the north and south sides of the Mohawk River.

History

This area of the river valley was home to the Mohawk people, one of the five groups that made up the Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee. They grew maize in the flat lands along the Mohawk River and lived in villages on the hills.

European settlers, mostly Dutch, arrived in the 1600s and founded the village of Schenectady in 1661. The fur traders in Albany controlled the trade and did not allow Schenectady traders, so many people became farmers instead. When the English took control in 1664, they kept the trading rules the same.

Over time, the area changed from being part of large Albany County to its own Schenectady County in 1809. The city of Schenectady became the county seat. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many people from Ireland, Italy, and Poland moved to the area for jobs in factories. The city grew and became a place for inventions and big companies like General Electric.

The city had the most people living there in 1930, but the whole county had the most people in 1970. Later, many factory jobs disappeared, and some people left the city, though others stayed and found work elsewhere in the county.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Schenectady County has an area of 209 square miles (540 km²). Of this, 205 square miles (530 km²) is land and 4.9 square miles (13 km²) is water. It is in east central New York State, northwest of Albany, in an area called "Upstate".

The county touches several other counties: Saratoga County to the northeast, Albany County to the southeast, Schoharie County to the southwest, and Montgomery County to the west.

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

In 2010, about 154,727 people lived in Schenectady County. Many were children under 18, some were young adults aged 18 to 24, and many were older adults aged 65 or older.

Most people spoke English at home. Many families had Italian, Irish, or German roots. The typical family earned about $57,670, but some families had less money than they needed.

Government and politics

Voters in Schenectady County often support Democratic candidates. The congressman Paul Tonko is a Democrat. Schenectady County usually votes for the statewide winner in presidential elections.

The County Legislature has 15 members from 8 communities. It includes Democrats, Republicans, and Conservatives who work together.

In 1966, voters approved a new county charter. This changed the government from a board of supervisors to a 15-member legislature. The legislature hires a county manager to handle daily operations.

The county runs the Schenectady County Public Library (SCPL), which has a central library and eight branches.

Communities

Schenectady County has many places where people live. Some of the bigger places are important in the county. The main town, where the main government offices are, is a special spot.

The county has towns such as Duanesburg, Glenville, Niskayuna, Princetown, and Rotterdam.

There are also smaller places called hamlets, like Alplaus, Aqueduct, and Quaker Street.