Dear Friends,
I can think of no better way to introduce Rensselaer County to you then to mention our extensive fields, woods and parks that surround our many lakes and mountains, rich with wonder, as their charm magnifies throughout the year to create spectacular views over our vast landscapes. This natural beauty serves as an exquisite backdrop for our fourteen towns, six villages and two cities, and blends with our refreshing rural and hi- tech influences to make our County a truly appealing place to live, raise a family, work, and start a business.
Thanks for taking the time to read about beautiful Rensselaer County, and special thanks to Capital Region Living for bringing us to your attention. We hope you enjoy this November edition, and for those of you who don’t currently live in our County, I am confident that this glimpse of our vast tourism attractions, activities, and just good old–fashioned opportunities to sit back and enjoy nature, will capture your fancy and appeal to you to come visit us….who knows, you might even decide to stay!
I look forward to seeing you—I hope that you make your visit a long one!
Sincerely,
Kathleen M. Jimino
Rensselaer County Executive
Rensselaer County is filled with wonderful contradictions and juxtapositions. It’s a special place where rural charm meets urban delights, where cultural opportunities and pastoral pastimes happily coexist, and where American heritage meets cutting-edge technology. Stretching 30-miles along the Hudson River, it offers thousands of acres of parks, miles of trails, and more than 500 lakes, ponds, and even championship golf courses. Year-round activity abounds, whether it be swimming, boating, hiking, biking, skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, or maybe even dog sledding. During the growing season, the county offers an array of locally produced fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, baked goods, arts, crafts, and even a buffalo hide or two!
A magnificently grand territory, Rensselaer County began playing a key role in American history back in 1630. It was then part of the Van Rensselaer patroon holdings, an important part of the great Dutch West Indies Company. Van Rensselaer’s stand as a patroon ended with the Anti-Rent wars of the 1840’s, when local farmers refused to pay rent to the sheriff’s deputies —then proceeded to tar and feather them for even trying to collect!
Before that happened however, in 1824 Stephen Van Rensselaer founded the oldest degree granting engineering school in the English-speaking world. At the same time, the county’s proximity to waterpower and markets forged the growth of the region’s iron industries, which quickly became legend for the production of such items as the iron plates for the Civil War battleship ‘Monitor’ and most of the horseshoes for the Union Army. And, in 1876, the 13,000-pound replacement for the cracked Liberty Bell was cast here.
Congress long ago designated Troy as the home of “Uncle Sam” —Samuel B. Wilson, a meat packer who stamped his barrels bound for U.S. Army troops with “U.S.” Local troops soon recognized their meat deliveries as coming from “Uncle Sam.” The label stuck—and the rest is history! Sam Wilson is buried in Troy’s beautiful Oakwood Cemetery, along with a host of Civil War generals, industry powerhouses, inventors, and community leaders. The nation’s first female labor union, the Collar Laundry Union, was founded in Troy in 1864 by Kate Mullaney and Ester Keegan. Another classic American icon—this one of a musical sort— was created at the old van Rensselaer manor house, Fort Crailo, where ‘Yankee Doodle’ is rumored to have been written.
The region also boasts many other impressive cultural contributions. It was here that Herman Melville found inspiration to write his first two novels, and Washington Irving penned “Father Knickerbocker” tales while residing at the Knickerbocker Mansion in Schaghticoke. The ‘Troy Sentinel’ was the first to publish “The Night Before Christmas” in 1823, and art collector Louis Caldor discovered Grandma Moses’ art on display in a Hoosick Falls drugstore. Living just over the county’s border, the beloved folk artist immortalized Rensselaer County’s lush hills and charming communities in her paintings.
As befits a county seat, the streets of Troy undeniably feature some of the finest 19th century architecture in the country. Blessed with what one expert calls the mother lode of Tiffany windows, Troy also houses such world-renowned treasures as the acoustically superb Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Norman Rockwell was so taken with the area that he painted scenes featuring the streets of Troy, and Hollywood directors have used numerous county locations when making both period films and contemporary blockbusters.
Established in 1954, the acclaimed Junior Museum was at the forefront of the nation’s children’s museum movement, and it is presently the only place in the Northeast where guests can visit a Digistar II planetarium. Another active cultural mecca, The Arts Center of the Capital Region annually welcomes over 70,000 artists, patrons, students, and performers at its new 36,000-square-foot facility. And Troy’s RiverSpark Visitor Center extends a warm welcome with exhibits, maps, tours, and other useful information designed to share with guests the many wonderful secrets of Troy and Rensselaer County.
Troy is considered the official gateway to the New York Canal System and boasts a picturesque waterfront park, a dock, and marina. The city itself is acclaimed for events like its Riverfront Arts Festival, the nation’s largest Flag Day parade, and the wintertime favorite, the Victorian Stroll.
The entire region practically pops at the seams for popular events like the Schaghticoke Fair, the Grafton Lakes Winter Fest and the annual Apple Festival and Crafts Show, which are enjoyed by thousands of residents and visitors annually. And for those moments you want to get far from the madding crowd, the county offers many solitary activities and pursuits.
Come…Take a closer look…And discover the many wonderful secrets of Rensselaer County.
Reprinted with permission from Rensselaer County; www.rensco.com.
Events
Through March
RPI Men’s Ice Hockey. Exciting NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey team competes against the top colleges in the country. For more info: www.rpi.edu/dept/athletics
November 6-March 26
Troy Winter Farmers’ Market—Free special events continue during the winter months with children’s activities, musicians, local chefs, community organizations and a variety of entertainers. Every Saturday 10am-2pm. Atrium, downtown Troy. For more info: www.troymarket.org.
November 1
Making Scrapbook Pages together—Supplies and tools available, but bring you can also bring your own. For all ages. Brunswick Community Library. 6pm. For more info: 279.4023; www.brunswicklibrary.org.
November 5
Roast Pork Dinner and Mini-Bazaar—Take-outs available. Dinner 4pm-6:30pm; Bazaar 3:30pm-7pm. The First Reformed Church of Wynantskill. For more info: 283.4420.
November 6
All-you-can-eat Pancake breakfast—Adults $5.50; children $3, under 5 free. Raffle and sale of DFD commemorative Christmas ornaments. 8am-noon. Defreestville Fire Department.
November 6
Harvest Brunch—Adults $6; children $2. Lansingburgh Boy’s & Girls’ Club. 10am-1pm. For more info: 235.4143.
November 19
Holiday Craft Fair—9am-4pm. 665 Brunswick Road, Troy.
November 24
Turkey Trot, City of Troy—For more info: www.troyny.gov/turkeytrot.html.
December 4
Troy Victorian Stroll—Enjoy the Victorian splendor of historic downtown Troy offering over 100 attractions throughout the day. Live music, dancing, storytelling, theatre, costumed performers and more set against a backdrop of unique shops, storefronts and restaurants, will bring the streets alive with Victorian holiday magic. Concludes with the lighting of the City of Troy Holiday Tree. 11am-5pm. For more info: 274.7020; www.troyvictorianstroll.com.
January
WinterFest at Grafton Lakes State Park—Featuring indoor and outdoor exhibits, the festival will feature environmental and recreational workshops and outings, including snow sculpture and snowball- throwing contests for the kids, an ice fishing tournament, horse-drawn sleigh rides and dog sled rides. For more info: www.nysparks.state.ny.us.
For more events visit www.rensco.com
Attractions
Rensselaer County Historical Society
59 Second Street, Troy , 732.7232; www.rchsonline.org
2005 Exhibitions:
Through December 23: Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian
New York State Theater Institute
Schacht Fine Arts Center, Russell Sage College
Corner of Division & River Street, Troy
274.3256; www.nysti.org
NYSTI stands as an internationally acclaimed professional and educational regional theatre geared toward family productions.
The Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River Street, Troy
273.0552; www.artscenteronline.org
The Arts Center of the Capital Region is a state-of-the-art multi-arts center located in downtown Troy, in New York’s Capital Region. Exhibits, classes and camps offered.
Hudson-Mohawk Industrial Gateway Burden Iron Works Museum
Polk Street, Troy
274.5267, www.rpi.edu/~carroll/gateway1.html
Tours, school programs at the primary, secondary and college levels, provides consulting on historic preservation issues and on regional history of technology in this area, and manages a regional technology museum.
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
Second Street, Troy, 273.0038; www.troymusichall.org
World-renowned acoustical hall with an eclectic concert schedule featuring classical, jazz, world music and popular artists.
Knickerbocker Historical Society
Schaghticoke
A non-profit organization that is restoring the Knickerbocker Family Mansion which dates from about 1770. The Society also hosts the annual Knickerbocker Family Reunion, as well as other fund-raisers at the mansion during the year.
Crailo State Historic Site
9 1/2 Riverside Avenue, Rensselaer, 463.8738
Crailo State Historic Site is a museum of the Dutch in the upper Hudson Valley. Crailo today tells the story of the early Dutch inhabitants of the upper Hudson Valley through exhibits highlighting archeological finds from the Albany Fort Orange excavations, special programs, and guided tours of the museum.
Hoosick Township Historical Society
Louis Miller Museum,, 166 Main Street, Hoosick Falls
686.4682
Children’s Museum of Science & Technology
250 Jordan Road, Troy
235.2120; www.cmost.org
The Museum is dedicated to introducing children of all ages to a wide spectrum of science and technology topics, integrated with history and the arts, in a fun and friendly environment.
Pineridge Cross Country Ski Area
East Poestenkill, 283.3652; www.pineridgexc.com
35km groomed trails, 15km ungroomed trails for snowshoeing & skiing, 4km lighted trails for night skiing, 20km skating trails, PSIA lessons offered daily, complete ski rentals, special group programs available.
Sand Lake Center for the Arts
2880 NY 43, Averill Park , 674.2007
Home of the Circle Theater Players, the Center provides theater, performing arts and visual arts.
November 4, 5, 6
Circle Theatre Players presents the comedy classic Harvey by Mary Chase. $14.
November 12
Holiday Art Fair—Featuring 19 local artists in photography, pottery, watercolors, unique jewelry, glass blowing, onyx and teak products, weaving, ceramics, letterpress, wood engraving, mixed media painting and etchings, designer scarves, and Chinese brush painting. 10am-3pm.
November 26
ARTWORKS!—Rick Salazar, in time period Iroquois clothing, will be sharing songs, tales and myths of the Iroquois Native Americans, with audience participation. 9am-10pm.