Schaghticoke | |
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Town | |
Location in Rensselaer County and the state of New York. |
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Coordinates: 42°52′50″N 73°36′35″W / 42.88056°N 73.60972°WCoordinates: 42°52′50″N 73°36′35″W / 42.88056°N 73.60972°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
County | Rensselaer |
Settled | 1668 |
Incorporated | 1788 |
Government | |
• Town Clerk | Janet Salisbury |
Area | |
• Total | 51.9 sq mi (134.3 km2) |
• Land | 49.9 sq mi (129.3 km2) |
• Water | 2.0 sq mi (5.1 km2) |
Elevation | 377 ft (115 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 7,679 |
• Density | 150/sq mi (57/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 12154 |
Area code(s) | 518 |
FIPS code | 36-65486 |
GNIS feature ID | 0979467 |
Website | Town of Schaghticoke, NY |
Schaghticoke /ˈskætᵻkoʊk/ SKAT-ə-kohk is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 7,679 at the 2010 census. It was named for the Schaghticoke, a Native American tribe formed in the seventeenth century from an amalgamation of remnant peoples of eastern New York and New England. The tribe has one of the oldest reservations in the United States, located in what is now Litchfield County, Connecticut. It has been recognized by the state of Connecticut but has not yet achieved federal recognition.
The town is on the northern border of the county, north of Troy. The town contains a village, also called Schaghticoke, and part of the village of Valley Falls.
This area was historically occupied by the Mohican tribe, and later by a mixed group of Mohicans, and remnants of numerous New England tribes who had migrated west seeking to escape European encroachment.
In 1675, Governor Andros, governor of the colony of New York, planted a tree of Welfare near the junction of the Hoosic River and Tomhannock Creek, and area already know as Schaghticoke, "the place where the waters mingle." This tree symbolized the friendship between the English and the Dutch, and the Schaghticoke Indians. The Indians were Mohican refugees from New England welcomed to Schaghticoke because they agreed to help protect the English from the French and the Iroquois. They stayed until 1754.