The General Electric Realty Plot, often referred to locally as the GE Realty Plot, GE Plots or just The Plot, is a residential neighborhood in
Schenectady
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, New York, United States. It is an area of approximately just east of
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
.
Originally an undeveloped tract owned by the college, it was sold to
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
(GE) at the end of the 19th century to help the college pay off a debt. The company's executives
subdivided it, laid out streets according to a
plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal.
F ...
inspired by New York's
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
and built houses on the land, with
covenants requiring a minimum lot size and house value. Two of them were among the first fully electric houses in the U.S., used as models by GE. Also settling in the neighborhood were some local businessmen and politicians, and the research scientists who worked at the company's
research laboratory
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...
a short distance away. They were collectively responsible for over 400
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s. Some of the key events in their research happened within the Plot, as many took things home to work on.
By 1927 approximately a hundred houses had been built, including
one
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
later owned by chemist
Irving Langmuir
Irving Langmuir (; January 31, 1881 – August 16, 1957) was an American chemist, physicist, and engineer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry.
Langmuir's most famous publication is the 1919 art ...
, a GE researcher, for his later life. It has subsequently been designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in recognition of Langmuir's scientific accomplishments, including the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
. In 1980 the entire neighborhood was recognized as a
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The Plot is no longer so heavily dominated by GE employees, due to the company's greatly reduced presence in the city. Houses in it remain highly valued, and residents pay some of the
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politica ...
region's highest
property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
es. Rules enforced by both the
neighborhood association
A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues.
Some neighborhood associations in the United States ...
and the city's Historic Commission preserve its historic character.
Geography
The district is mostly bounded by streets, making it roughly quadrilateral in shape. At the west, Lenox Road divides it from the college campus. Nott Street forms the northern boundary, separating the Realty Plot from Ellis Hospital until West Alley, the rear property lines between houses on Lowell Road and Glenwood Boulevard, which marks the eastern boundary. After crossing Rugby Road, the line turns west to take in the houses on the south side of that street to its intersection with Wendell Avenue, then following Union Avenue back to Lenox.
A small stream known as College Creek or Grooteskill flows west through the district to the
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...
, making a
ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.[bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:
* basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand
* dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge)
* felds ...](_blank)
arch bridges, all included as
contributing properties
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
. Many mature trees grow throughout the district.
The houses within are on
lots
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
*Land lot, an area of land
*Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale together ...
with a minimum size of ,
set back from the streets they front on. They are predominantly in the
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
or
Georgian Revival
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...
architectural style
An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...
s, with some in the
Mission Revival
The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
,
Queen Anne or
Shingle Style.
The Steinmetz Memorial on Wendell Avenue is the only significant open space in the district. It is named for
Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Charles Proteus Steinmetz (born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz, April 9, 1865 – October 26, 1923) was a German-born American mathematician and electrical engineer and professor at Union College. He fostered the development of alternating ...
, the German-born electrical engineer whose research made
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
possible. Steinmetz's house (at 1297 Wendell Avenue) stood on the grounds of the Memorial. He did research in a backyard lab, and both the lab and the house were demolished in 1944.
Steinmetz also chaired the city's school board. A separate public park in Schenectady, known as The Steinmetz Park, is located on Lenox Road but is outside the GE Realty Plot district.
The building at 1184 Rugby Road was developed as a primary school and remained in use for that purpose for many years.
Only five buildings have been added to the district since its initial period of development in the first quarter of the 20th century. They include a modern church by
Edward Durrell Stone
Edward Durell Stone (March 9, 1902 – August 6, 1978) was an American architect known for the formal, highly decorative buildings he designed in the 1950s and 1960s. His works include the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, the Museo de A ...
from the late 1950s on Wendell Avenue. Most of them are otherwise unintrusive, but are not considered contributing due to their more recent construction.
History
In 1899
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
announced that, in order to pay off a $30,000 ($ in contemporary dollars) debt, it would sell two adjacent tracts of land. One, the College Meadow, was a parcel to the west; the other, the College Woods, was in size and located immediately to the east of the college. Prominent citizens of the city called for the land to be developed into a park, and a
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
to that effect gained 2,200 signatures. The college proposed to
lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
the land to the city for that purpose, but at a very high annual rate. Shortly afterward, several members of the board of
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, which had grown rapidly since
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
had moved his
Edison Machine Works
The Edison Machine Works was a manufacturing company set up to produce dynamos, large electric motors, and other components of the electrical illumination system being built in the 1880s by Thomas A. Edison in New York City.
History
The need for ...
to Schenectady in 1886, announced that the company would buy the land from the college for $57,000 ($ in contemporary dollars), retiring the college's debt.
![GE Realty Plot pre-1914 map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/GE_Realty_Plot_pre-1914_map.png)
They formed a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
, Schenectady Realty Company, to purchase and
develop the land. Their goal was to offer another incentive for the company's executives and researchers to stay rather than leave for a competitor or start their own companies. It took until 1903 to
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
the streets and lay water and
sewer lines and build the bridges.
The plan for the neighborhood was developed by Parse and DeForrest, specialists in the new discipline of
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
. They took their inspiration from New York City's
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
, designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
and
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...
. Instead of being planned around a central street, like the way Schenectady had developed along
Union Street, thinking which had guided Glenwood and Parkwood boulevards elsewhere in the city, they imagined the area as two smaller lots divided by Wendell Avenue, a street named after a former landowner in the area. They laid out the streets in gentle curves, like the pathways in Central Park. They also tried something new on residential city streets at the time: the "sod gutter", by which there is no
curb
A curb (North American English), or kerb (Commonwealth English except Canada; see spelling differences), is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway.
History
Although curbs have ...
on a paved street, to further maintain the park-like atmosphere.
Covenants in the
deed
In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...
s for each lot limited construction on it to one
single-family house
A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling ...
, to be sold or valued at no less than $4,000 ($ in contemporary dollars), almost twice the median home value in Schenectady at that time, a value later raised to account for
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
. Construction had to commence within two years of the purchase of the lot.
The setback and lot size restrictions were also set at this time. Another provision limited the height of any fence between properties to , to make sure they were purely ornamental in purpose. When the plans were finished, the property's
surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
claimed "We have here a suburban residential plot second-to-none between New York and Chicago, either in layout, restrictions, or the class of houses upon it."
The streets were mostly named from a combination of the works of Sir
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
and two prominent names in the history of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
,
Adams and
Lowell. Rugby Road was named due to the use of an adjacent field for
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
matches. Nott Road already existed and had been named for Union College president
Eliphalet Nott
Eliphalet Nott (June 25, 1773January 25, 1866), was a famed Presbyterian minister, inventor, educational pioneer, and long-term president of Union College, Schenectady, New York.
Early life
Nott was born at Ashford, Connecticut, on June 25, 1773 ...
. Lenox Road was originally spelled with two "n"'s.
Every winter an area behind
Brown School
Brown School is a private, nondenominational elementary, middle school and high school in Schenectady, New York in the United States. It provides instruction for about 300 students in grades one through eight. It also offers nursery and kinderg ...
was flooded to create a
skating pond for residents of the Plot, who received a special lapel tag to identify themselves. The
fire hydrant
A fire hydrant, waterplug, or firecock (archaic) is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe and Asia since at least ...
built for this purpose is still extant.
Houses were built and sold rapidly. Some non-GE residents moved in, including the city's then-mayor F.F. Eisenmanger. In 1912 another mayor,
George R. Lunn
George Richard Lunn (June 23, 1873 – November 27, 1948) was an American clergyman and politician from New York. He was the first Socialist mayor in the state of New York, a U.S. Representative from 1917 to 1919, and Lieutenant Governor from ...
, the first
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
mayor in New York and later the state's
lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
, had the city take over the maintenance of the streets. This led to the installation of sidewalks, which diluted the original sod-gutter look somewhat.
The original map of the plot shows three large parcels in the Oxford Street area to the east. Not part of the original College Woods property, they were eventually purchased by the realty company in 1914 and developed. These lots lacked the covenants in the earlier ones, and as a result some of the houses on Rugby Road are closer together than the rest of the neighborhood.
By 1927 almost all the lots were bought and built on. Since then only five new buildings have been constructed in the district.
Preservation
The neighborhood is one of four historic districts recognized by the city of Schenectady. It comes under the purview of its Historic Commission, a seven-member body that meets once a month. Under the city's
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
regulations, any change to a historic building in a district that is visible from a public
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
must be approved by the commission.
[Schenectady Department of Development, , retrieved September 11, 2009.] Houses in the district, already the largest in the city, have some of the highest
property tax
A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
valuations in the
Capital District
A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politica ...
region,
from $200–400,000. Many residents pay more than $10,000 annually to the city,
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
, and school district. Heating bills also run into the thousands.
There is also a
neighborhood association
A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues.
Some neighborhood associations in the United States ...
, the Realty Plot Association. It publishes a
newsletter
A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of int ...
, ''The Plot Spotter'',
sponsors a biennial house and garden tour
and works to maintain the neighborhood's historic character. Members also greet new residents with a bottle of
champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
and ''An Enclave of Elegance'', a history of the neighborhood.
Union College owns several of the houses, and in the late 20th century decided to convert some of them to administrative offices and student housing. Residents objected, citing the deed covenants and zoning that prohibited business uses, and filed suit. In 2001 a
state appeals court upheld a lower-court ruling in the college's favor. As a
nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
the college was not a business, and its presence predated the creation of the Plot and its deed covenants, so the framers of those covenants would have likely included language explicitly restricting college-related activities if that had been their intent.
It converted the Parker-Rice estate at 1128 Lenox Road into offices for its fundraising and alumni relations departments. An attempt to have the state's
Court of Appeals
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
, its highest, hear the case was denied.
Significant contributing properties
![Irving Langmuir House 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Irving_Langmuir_House_2008.jpg)
Most of the homes in the district that have additional significance have it because of their residents.
*67 Union Avenue. In 1900, the first home built for
Edwin W. Rice, a GE executive and president of Schenectady Realty, considered one of the three fathers of General Electric.
*1155 Avon Road. One of the first all-electric houses in the country when built in 1905.
*6 Douglas Road. The first all-electric "Gold Medallion" house in the nation in 1901.
*
Ernst Alexanderson
Ernst Frederick Werner Alexanderson (January 25, 1878 – May 14, 1975) was a Swedish-American electrical engineer, who was a pioneer in radio and television development. He invented the Alexanderson alternator, an early radio transmitter used b ...
House, 1132 Adams Road. Alexanderson, a pioneer in radio and television development, held 322 patents. The first television broadcast was received here in 1927. GE used it as a model for such houses
*
Ernst Julius Berg House, 1336 Lowell Road. Home of the producer of the first
two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive radio waves (a transceiver), unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. It is an audio (sound) transceiver, a transmitter and receiver in one unit, used for bidirecti ...
program in the U.S.
*
William D. Coolidge
William David Coolidge (; October 23, 1873 – February 3, 1975) was an American physicist and engineer, who made major contributions to X-ray machines. He was the director of the General Electric Research Laboratory and a vice-president of t ...
House, 1480 Lenox Road. Home of the inventor of the modern
X-ray tube
An X-ray tube is a vacuum tube that converts electrical input power into X-rays. The availability of this controllable source of X-rays created the field of radiography, the imaging of partly opaque objects with penetrating radiation. In contrast ...
. He served in his later years as GE's director of research
*
Caryl Parker Haskins
Caryl Parker Haskins (1908–2001) was an American scientist, author, inventor, philanthropist, governmental adviser and pioneering entomologist in the study of ant biology. Along with Franklin S. Cooper, he founded the Haskins Laboratories, ...
House, 1166 Avon Road. Home of the
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
when he taught at Union College.
*
Albert Hull
Albert Wallace Hull (19 April 1880 – 22 January 1966) was an American physicist and electrical engineer who made contributions to the development of vacuum tubes, and invented the magnetron. He was a member of the National Academy of Scienc ...
House, 1435 Lowell Road. Home of the inventor of the
magnetron
The cavity magnetron is a high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and currently in microwave ovens and linear particle accelerators. It generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field while ...
, the later foundation for the development of
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
and
microwave oven
A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce t ...
s. He held 94 patents.
*
Irving Langmuir House, 1176 Stratford Road. From 1919 until his death in 1957, this was the home of
Irving Langmuir
Irving Langmuir (; January 31, 1881 – August 16, 1957) was an American chemist, physicist, and engineer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry.
Langmuir's most famous publication is the 1919 art ...
, winner of the 1932
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
and the first industrial chemist so honored. Designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1985, this is the only contributing property in the district separately listed on the National Register.
*
George R. Lunn
George Richard Lunn (June 23, 1873 – November 27, 1948) was an American clergyman and politician from New York. He was the first Socialist mayor in the state of New York, a U.S. Representative from 1917 to 1919, and Lieutenant Governor from ...
House, 1299 Stratford Road. Lunn was the first
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
elected mayor of a city in New York. He later served as
lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
for a term under
Alfred E. Smith.
*Chester Rice House, 1161 Lowell Road.
One night in the 1930s, Rice, a GE engineer, directed radio beams at nearby vehicles and got them to bounce back, one of the earliest practical demonstrations of radar.
*Edwin Rice House, 1050 Avon Road. Rice built this house for himself in 1905.
See also
*
References
External links
Neighborhood websiteWalking tour brochure
{{General Electric
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
1899 establishments in New York (state)
General Electric
Neighborhoods in Schenectady, New York
National Register of Historic Places in Schenectady County, New York