Mannsville is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

within the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Colonie, Albany County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. It is a small community west of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Watervliet and is inaccessible to the rest of Colonie by car without driving through Watervliet. Town historian Jean Olton stated in 1987 that Mannsville was no longer considered "an official hamlet" of the Town of Colonie. As of 2019, Mannsville (misspelled as Mansville) is listed on the Town of Colonie's Town Historian website as an unincorporated community within the Town of Colonie.

History

In 1875, Francis N. Mann purchased most of what is now Mannsville from John Schuyler. Mann was a judge in the Town of Watervliet (not to be confused with the neighboring city of Watervliet). He died a few months later, and his children- Francis N. Mann Jr., Elias P. Mann and Emily Mann inherited the land. In 1905 they moved to

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without disposing of the land or arranging for the property taxes to be paid. Albany County eventually foreclosed, auctioning the land off in lots, leading to a boom in new housing in the 1970s. In 1998, the neighboring city of Watervliet attempted to annex the small hamlet, which at that time consisted of roughly 175 inhabitants. Colonie Town Supervisor Mary Brizzell stated the pros for staying with Colonie as being- lower taxes, access to the town golf course, youth services, and community development grant money. Watervliet Mayor Robert Carlson put forth in favor of annexation the facts that emergency and fire response times would improve, the city provides municipal garbage pick up, does not charge a fire district tax (Colonie does), the children of Mannsville already attend the Watervliet City School District, and most residents attend Watervliet churches.

Geography

Mannsville is roughly in area. Mannsville is generally understood to be bordered on the south by NY Route 155; on the north by 15th Street and the Watervliet city line; on the east by Elbow Alley, which runs between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and Watervliet city line; and on the west by railroad tracks. Mannsville is flat and of low elevation. Since, 1995 residents have complained of frequent flooding due partly to beaver dams on the Kromma Kill and to increased residential construction uphill and upstream from the hamlet.

Location

References

{{Albany County, New York Colonie, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Hamlets in Albany County, New York