Rivers and Creeks. C. Hudson River. k. Hoosick. b. Tomhenick Creek. i. Kinderhook. h. Vallitje. e. Wynantskill. f. Poestenkill. Falls. Hoosick. Villages. TROY CITY. Greenbush. Lansingburgh. Scaghticoke Hoosick Falls. BOUNDARIES. North by Washington county; East by the states of Massachusetts and Vermont; South by Columbia county; and West by the Hudson river. SURFACE. The surface of the county is diversified. From the valley of the Hudson it rises, somewhat precipitously, more than 200 feet. Thence the county is rolling, to the base of the Peterborough mountains. These mountains attain their highest elevation near the centre of the county, subsiding into moderate hills, at the northern and southern extremities. This ridge is separated from the Taghkanic range, here called the Williamstown mountains, by a valley from one to three miles in width. RIVERS. This county is abundantly watered. Beside the Hudson, its principal streams are, the Hoosick river, Tomhenick, Kinderhook and Vallitje creeks, Wynantskill, and Poestenkill. RAILROADS. The Western Railroad, which connects Boston and Albany, terminates at East Albany. The Troy and Greenbush Railroad connects this with Troy. The Troy and Saratoga, and the Troy and Schenectady Railroads, both terminate in this county. They cross the Hudson at Troy, on a noble bridge, 1650 feet in length. CLIMATE. The climate of the county is mild, but exposed to great extremes of temperature. It is considered healthful. GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The county is wholly of the transition formation. The basis rock is clay slate, upon which is imposed limestone, graywacke, and some red sandstone. Roofing slate is extensively quarried in Hoosick, Stephentown, and Troy. Iron is found in several places, but is little wrought. Marl, of superior quality, is abundant in Sand Lake, and Scaghticoke. Epsom salts are found in Lansingburgh; in the same vicinity are quartz crystals of great beauty. There are several sulphur springs in the county. SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. There is considerable variety in the soil, but a loam, composed of sand and clay, and quite fertile, extends over the greater part of the county. Considerable tracts are well adapted to wheat, but grass and summer crops succeed better in the uplands, in the northern and eastern sections. The principal timber is oak, hemlock, spruce, chestnut, and hickory. PURSUITS. Agriculture is extensively and profitably pursued. The productions of the dairy are large. The rearing of cattle, horses, and sheep, receives much attention. It is the largest flax growing county in the state. The Manufactures of the county are numerous and varied. The principal articles are flour, cotton and woollen goods, various kinds of iron ware, leather, carriages and sleighs, railroad cars, malt and distilled liquors, oil, &c. Commerce. The commerce of the county is quite extensive, and is carried on principally through the ports of Troy, Lansingburgh, and Greenbush. STAPLES. Flax, oats, potatoes, corn, butter and wool. SCHOOLS. In 1846, there were in the county, 192 district school-houses, in which schools were maintained an àverage period of nine months, and 13,040 children received instruction. The wages of teachers amounted to $21,83. The number of volumes in the district libraries was 26,921. There were also seventy-five private schools, with 1923 pupils, six academies and two female seminaries, with 556 students, and the Rensselaer Institute. RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Universalists, Unitarians, Friends, and Congregationalists. There are ninety-five churches, and eighty clergymen. HISTORY. All the towns of this county, except Scaghticoke, Pittstown, Hoosick, the north part of Lansingburgh, and part of Troy, belong to the Manor of Rensselaerwyck. The farms are generally rented at the rate of ten bushels of wheat for the hundred acres. Pittstown was probably settled at an earlier period than any other portion of the county, emigrants having located there in 1650. Scaghticoke was also settled by Dutch and German families at an early period, probably about 1700. The first settlement on the present site of Troy, was made in 1720, by Derick Vanderheyden. He obtained a lease of 490 acres, now constituting the most densely populated portion of the city, for three and three-quarters bushels of wheat and four fat fowls annually. His descendants continued to occupy the land, and from them it assumed the name of Vanderheyden's ferry, which it continued to bear till 1789, when the more classic appellation of "Troy" was substituted for it. On the 16th August, 1777, a portion of the battle of Bennington was fought within the limits of Hoosick, in this county. A cantonment was erected at Greenbush, for the United States troops, during the late war with Great Britain. CITIES AND VILLAGES. TROY CITY, the seat of justice for the county, is pleasantly situated on the Hudson, six miles north of Albany. It was laid out in 1789, and made the county seat in 1791. It is well built, with wide and well shaded streets. The court house, and several of the other public buildings, exhibit great architectural merit. It is largely engaged in manufactures of almost every description; cast and bar iron, nails, cotton and woollen goods, coaches, sleighs, wagons, railroad cars, flour, distilled and malt liquors, leather, cordage, steam engines, machinery, &c., are the principal. The entire value of its manufactures exceeds $4,000,000 per annum. The schools of Troy have long maintained a high rank. The Rensselaer Institute, founded by, and named after, the late Patroon, is an excellent practical school, designed to furnish young men with a thorough mathematical education, and to fit them for the practice of civil engineering. The Troy Female Seminary, begun in Middlebury, Vermont, in 1814, and removed to Troy in 1821, has long ranked among the first institutions of its kind in the country. Nearly 6000 pupils have been educated in it, many of whom have afterwards become teachers in various parts of the Union. Its former and present principals, have won for themselves the highest reputation as instructors. It has twenty-four teachers and other officers, and more than 200 pupils. The Troy Academy is also an excellent institution. The Lyceum of Natural History has a fine library and cabinet, and is well conducted. The Young Men's Association possess a large and well selected library, a cabinet and reading room, and sustain a course of lectures annually. The city is connected with Schenectady, Saratoga, and East Albany, by railroads, and by means of the last with the great Western Railroad to Boston. Excellent McAdamized roads have also been constructed to Albany and to Bennington; the Erie and Champlain canals, here forming the Junction canal, bring immense quantities of lumber and produce to the city, and receive in return manufactured goods. The commerce of the city is quite large. Three large and seven or eight smaller steamboats, about sixty sloops and schooners, and twenty-five or thirty barges, are owned here, and employed in transporting produce and manufactured articles to New York. There are also several lines of packets plying to other ports, together with a large number of packet and freight boats, on the Erie and Champlain canals. Population 25,000. The village of West Troy, on the west bank of the Hudson, though in another county, may almost be considered a suburb of Troy, with which it is connected by a fine bridge and two ferries. Lansingburgh, in the town of the same name, is three miles north of Troy. It was settled before that city, and was for a considerable period the more important village. It has extensive manufactories. By means of a lock, in the state dam across the Hudson, sloops ascend the river to the village. The Lansingburgh Academy was one of the first institutions of the kind established in the state. The village is one of the oldest in the state, having been organized in 1771, and incorporated in 1787. Population 3500. Scaghticoke Point, in the town of Scaghticoke, is a thriving manufacturing village; cotton, linen, and hemp goods, powder, and powder kegs, are largely manufactured here. Population 1400. Greenbush is a thriving village in the town of the same name, opposite the city of Albany. The great Western railroad, and the Troy and Greenbush railroad terminate here. The United States barracks, erected in 1814, were on an eminence about a mile southeast of the village. They were very extensive, having been intended for the accommodation of 5000 troops, but are now in ruins. Population 1200. Hoosick Falls, in the town of Hoosick, is a thriving manufacturing village. Population 500. Nassau and Berlin, in the towns of the same names, are villages of some importance. Schodac Landing, in the town of Schodac, is a thriving village. |