Downtown Schenectady
| Downtown Schenectady | |
| City of Schenectady | |
| Neighborhood/Central business district | |
 State Street looking east in 2007, during the height of new construction
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| Country | United States |
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| State | New York |
| Region | Capital District |
| County | Schenectady County |
| Municipality | City of Schenectady |
| Coordinates | 42°48′45″N 73°56′33″W / 42.81250°N 73.94250°WCoordinates: 42°48′45″N 73°56′33″W / 42.81250°N 73.94250°W |
| Area | .53 sq mi (1 km2) |
| Population | 3,915 (2000) |
| Density | 7,387/sq mi (2,852/km2) |
| Settled | 1820s |
| Timezone | Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) |
| Area code | 518 |
| ZIP Code | 12305 |
  Location of Downtown Schenectady within the state of New York
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Website: Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation Metroplex Development Authority |
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Downtown Schenectady is the central business district for the city of Schenectady, New York. It originated in the 1820s with the moving of the commercial and industrial interests east from the original 17th and 18th century settlement, spurred on by the development of the Erie Canal. Home to the headquarters and major manufacturing plants of two large corporations, General Electric and American Locomotive Company, Downtown Schenectady catered to tens of thousands of workers in its heyday. Typical of the post-industrial Northeastern United States and Upstate New York in particular, Downtown Schenectady saw a decline in manufacturing and population starting in the 1970s. Recent construction and renovation has caused the downtown area to become an entertainment mecca for New York's Capital District anchored by Proctor's Theatre.
The area of Downtown Schenectady was built shortly after a fire in 1819 destroyed 169 buildings in what is now the neighborhood. The Stockade neighborhood was the original extent of settlement in Schenectady from the 17th century, and settlement had barely begun on the north side of State Street. Shortly after the fire however the Erie Canal was being built a few hundred yards east of the city and therefore the commercial interests of Schenectady began to move east to what is now Downtown Schenectady, this left the Stockade to develop as a residential community separate from the business district.
Downtown Schenectady includes Union College, which is a private 4-year college established in 1795. In July 1806, the college determined to acquire a large tract of land to the east of the main settlement in Schenectady, on a gentle slope up from the Mohawk River and facing nearly due west. This tract was not promisingly described by college president Eliphalet Nott some years later as “pasture grounds, scarred by deep ravines, rendered at once unsightly and difficult of access by an alternation of swamp and sand hill…”.
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Wikipedia