Schuyler Flatts is an important prehistoric and historic settlement site overlooking the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Colonie, New York Colonie is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. It is the most-populous suburb of Albany, and is the third-largest town in area in Albany County, occupying approximately 11% of the county. Several hamlets exist within the town. ...

. The site includes evidence of prehistoric Native American, early Dutch colonial settlement, and 18th and 19th-century American use. Because of this rich confluence of archaeological sites, the area was 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 1993. It is now owned by the town of Colonie, and is known as Schuyler Flatts Cultural Park.

History

The Schuyler Flatts are a rich and fertile floodplain on the western bank of the Hudson River north of Albany, roughly bounded on the west by Broadway (

New York State Route 32 New York State Route 32 (NY 32) is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with f ...

). Evidence from archaeological digs at the site includes prehistoric hearths and other Native American artifacts. When the Dutch settled

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

in the 17th century, this area was first part of the extensive Van Rensselaer land holdings, and was settled by the 1640s, around the same time that

Fort Orange Fort Orange ( nl, Fort Oranje) was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city of Albany, New York developed at this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on nearb ...

was established at present-day Albany. The farm was purchased in 1672 by the

Schuyler family The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especiall ...

, and was occupied by

Pieter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

and his descendants into the early 20th century. From Dutch colonial times, the history includes that of indentured servants and slaves of African descent. The site formerly included the Colonel Phillipus Schuyler House, which burned in 1962. Col. Phillipus Schuyler (b. 1696) was the son of

(1657–1724), 1st mayor of Albany and three time

acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

of the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

. His wife, Margarita Schuyler, commonly known as Madame Schuyler, was an influential person within her family, with the British officers, and Native Americans. The Schuyler family occupied the land from 1692 until 1910. This Schuyler property was cut through by the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

along its western edge and in the early 19th century the river road which passed in front of the house, to the east, was moved to a location just west of the canal, where it is today known as Broadway. The site became a

in 1993. The Town of Colonie made the grounds into a park, dedicated in 2002. The park is the site of an annual Civil War Heritage Days encampment.

References

External links

* *
Schuyler Flatts Cultural Park opening
* {{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Albany County, New York Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state) Archaeological sites in New York (state) Parks in Albany County, New York Colonie, New York

History

See also

References

External links