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Schenectady County

Schenectady County, New York
County
County of Schenectady
Nott and Chapel.JPG
Flag of Schenectady County, New York
Flag
Seal of Schenectady County, New York
Seal
Map of New York highlighting Schenectady County
Location in the U.S. state of New York
Map of the United States highlighting New York
New York's location in the U.S.
Founded 1809
Seat Schenectady
Largest city Schenectady
Area
 • Total 209 sq mi (541 km2)
 • Land 205 sq mi (531 km2)
 • Water 4.9 sq mi (13 km2), 2.3%
Population
 • (2010) 154,727
 • Density 757/sq mi (292/km²)
Congressional district 20th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.schenectadycounty.com

Schenectady County (/skəˈnɛktədi/) is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 154,727. The county seat is Schenectady. The name is from a Mohawk language word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands," a term that originally applied to Albany.

Schenectady County is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is located west of the confluence of the Mohawk with the Hudson River. It included territory on both the north and the south sides of the Mohawk River.

This area of the river valley was historically occupied by the Mohawk people, the easternmost of the Five Nations comprising the Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee. They cultivated maize fields in the flats along the Mohawk River and had villages in the hills.

European settlement started in the present-day county by Dutch colonists in the 17th century; the village of Schenectady was founded in 1661. The fur traders in Albany kept a monopoly and prohibited settlers in Schenectady from the trade; those residents mostly became farmers. Other areas of the county were also developed for farming. The English enforced the Albany monopoly on the fur trade when they took over the New Netherland colony in 1664.


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