Colonial Schenectady, founded by the Dutch in 1661, foreshadowed what much of America was to become. Strategically located at the entrance of the great westward passage of the Mohawk River-Great Lakes Corridor, it also had an important influence on the development of the frontier. Even as America became a melting pot of peoples and a center of commerce and industry, so colonial Schenectady was a crucible in which diverse people combined to exploit their strategic location and their own commercial and industrial capabilities to have a profound impact on the development of the nation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The founding Dutch were entrepreneurs, interested primarily in the fur trade, who realized that for business success there had to be toleration of cultural and religious differences. Several of the earliest settlers were non-Dutch: French, Scots, and Scandinavians, as well as Blacks and Mohawk Indians. To the east was New England, to the north, NewFrance, and to the west was the land of the Five Nations -- the Iroquois. All sought to control the fur trade, and as commercial contests became territorial challenges and developed into colonial wars many English, Irish, and Germans were added to the original social amalgam. In the stress of conflict an enduring community was forged, and Schenectadians came to play important roles as a continent continued to be settled.

This tour of the Stockade presents a very different Schenectady centuries from the one we see today, but modern Americans will discover continuity in the heritage of historic sites and buildings and in that entrepreneurial spirit that made Schenectady and America great.

CHRONOLOGY

1661 -Schenectady founded by Arent Van Curler and 14 other proprietors.

ca. 1680 -Dutch Reformed Church established.

1690 -Massacre by French and Canadian Indians (King William's War).

1704 -Building of Queen Anne's Fort marks the beginning of British influence and stimulates redevelopment.

1711 -Schenectady carpenters build Fort Hunter for the Mohawk allies and another fort for the Onondaga.

ca. 1724 -Schenectady smiths work among the Iroquois.

1738 -William Johnson sets up the first trading post in the Valley (Fort Johnson).

1748 -The Beukendaal Skirmish (King George's War), 20 Schenectadians killed and 13 captured during Indian raid in Glenville

1754 -North Street cut through as British mobilize to dislodge the French from Niagara (French and Indian War).

1756 -Schenectady carpenters build forts for Oneida, Tuscarora, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

1760 -St. George's Episcopal Church built.

1763 -1776 Schenectady the base of the great Scottish fur trading firm ofDuncan, Phyn, & Ellice. Hundreds of Schenectadians employed in trade out to the Great Lakes.

1764 -Schenectady receives a borough charter.

1769 -First Presbyterian Church built.

1776 -Revolutionary War begins; Schenectadians supply grain of Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys to the Continental Army.

1782 -Grist mill at Schenectady one of the last left standing in the Mohawk Valley.

1783 -End of the Revolutionary War. A traveler writes: "Schenectady has decayed, and no advantage is being taken of its happy situation."

1785 -Schenectady Academy, forerunner of Union College, sponsored by the Dutch Church under the leadership of Reverend Dirck Romeyn.

1795 -Queen Anne's Fort torn down and site becomes focus of urban renewal.

1798 -Schenectady receives a city charter. Joseph C. Yates, first mayor.

1808 -First bridge built across the Mohawk.

1812 -Schenectadians build boats to transport U.S. troops up the St. Lawrence. The Binne Kill is lined with Durham boats discharging and receiving cargo.

1819 -Great fire consumes the principal business district on the west side of town.

1825 -Opening of the Erie Canal.

[NOTE: The above is a prototype Web site based on walking tour audio, map, and brochure originally produced by Dr. Susan Jane Staffa,
E. George Weinheimer, Irma Hamilton, Colonial Schenectady Project, Inc.]