Watervliet ( or ) was a

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 o ...

that at its height encompassed most of present-day Albany County and most of the current town of

Niskayuna Niskayuna is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. The population was 23,278 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeast part of the county, east of the city of Schenectady, and is the easternmost town in the county. ...

in neighboring

Schenectady County Schenectady County () is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,061. The county seat is Schenectady. The name is from a Mohawk language word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands," a ter ...

, in the state of New York,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Just prior to its dissolution, the town encompassed the current towns of Colonie and Green Island and 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.

History

On March 7, 1788, the state of New York divided the entire state into towns, eliminating districts as administrative units by passing New York Laws of 1788, Chapters 63 and 64. This transformed the Western District of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck into the town of Watervliet. In the census of 1790, the town had a population of 7,419, which made it twice as populous as the city of Albany. The European settlement of Watervliet predated the creation of the town by almost 200 years. Fort Nassau on Castle Island was built by Dutch colonists in 1614 within the original boundaries of the town. It passed to the town of

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

upon its creation in 1793, later to be annexed to the city of Albany in the 20th century. Early settlers were Dutch farmers owning land north and south of Fort Orange along the Hudson River. The lands to the north came to be known as Watervliet, while the lands to the south were named Bethlehem. The town had been settled by many immigrant groups who settled different regions of the town. In the western section of the town, in what would later become the town of Berne, Germans from the 1750s and Scots during the

US Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

settled around the

Helderberg Escarpment The Helderberg Escarpment, also known as the Helderberg Mountains, is an escarpment in eastern New York, United States, roughly west of the city of Albany. The escarpment is the northeastern extremity of the Allegheny Plateau. It rises steep ...

. Over the next 20 years, several towns would be broken off from this town, often called the " Mother of Towns". Rensselaerville in 1790 would be the first town separated, Coeymans would separate in 1791, while Colonie would be incorporated as a municipality but would stay within Watervliet.

would be created in 1793 from Watervliet. Colonie would become incorporated again, this time as a district in 1801.

Guilderland Guilderland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2020 census, the town had a population of 36,848. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Guilderland is on the central-northwest border ...

would separate in 1803, and Colonie would become a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in 1804 and then a separate town in 1808. Niskayuna would separate in 1809, when Schenectady County was broken off from Albany County. In 1815 Colonie would be split between the city of Albany and the town of Watervliet. In 1836 West Troy would incorporate as a village, Cohoes in 1848, and then Green Island in 1853 also as a village. Cohoes would be set off from the town as a city in 1869. In 1870 the portion of the former town of Colonie that Watervliet received in 1815 was annexed by the city of Albany. In 1870-71 the city of Albany west of Magazine Street (the so-called "Liberty" of Albany) was given by the state to the town of Watervliet. The town however was unwilling to accept the territory and subsequently ceded the territory to the neighboring town of Guilderland. At this same time the city of Albany annexed from Watervliet the hamlet of North Albany. In the 1890s the rural residents of the majority of the town of Watervliet became dissatisfied with being under the political control of the urban residents of the village of West Troy. When talk began of the creation of a city of Watervliet, they petitioned the state to be set apart as a separate town. In 1895 the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

passed laws of 1895 chapter 975, which established the town of Colonie from the majority of the town of Watervliet, leaving behind only the villages of Green Island and West Troy within the town of Watervliet. In the next year, the original town was dissolved. The laws of 1896 chapter 811, which went into effect on May 21, created the town of Green Island to cover the village of the same name, leaving only the village of West Troy in the town of Watervliet. On August 1, 1896, the village of West Troy, along with some land from the town of Colonie, was incorporated as the independent city of Watervliet, and the town of Watervliet was ended.

''Watervliet v Colonie''

After the town of Colonie was created but prior to the dissolution of the town of Watervliet into the city of Watervliet and town of Green Island, the town of Watervliet filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

against the new town of Colonie to enforce the state law's division of debt payments between the two towns. Before ''Town of Watervliet v. Town of Colonie'' could go to trial, the town of Watervliet was dissolved. Chapter 905 of the laws of 1896 creating the city of Watervliet stated that any land in the town of Watervliet not incorporated into the new city would form a "distinct and separate town" and, after a boundary survey, uninhabited strips of land totaling less than were found. Representatives of the town of Watervliet argued that it still existed and could continue the lawsuit. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of Albany County, Appellate Division, 3rd Department on March 2, 1898 ruled that the town of Watervliet ceased to exist on August 1, 1896 with the formation of the city; it said that the legislature could not have intended to have a town consisting of uninhabited shreds of discontinuous territory. The court declared that when the state dissolves a town and replaces it with a new city, the new municipality succeeds to the property of the old town; therefore, the court declared these strips of land to be of the city of Watervliet. Also, the court ruled that the officeholders of the town of Watervliet could not be officeholders of the town anymore; as they no longer lived within the town of Watervliet, they had no legal standing to sue in the name of the town. The former offices of the town had existed only to wind up its affairs. Since the court ruled that the town no longer existed, the case was dismissed.

Notable locations found in the town

*The Watervliet Arsenal, founded in 1813, is the oldest Federal arsenal in the country; it is the sole manufacturing facility for large caliber cannon. *The route of the original

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 ...

from the town's border with the city of Albany (today in the neighborhood of North Albany within the city) north to modern-day Cohoes and then northwest to the Lower Aqueduct, today the US Route 9 Crescent Bridge over 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 ...

. The junction of the Erie with the Champlain Canal was also in the town. * Troy & Schenectady Railroad
The First Shaker Village

Notable residents

* Leland Stanford, future

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States Senator, and founder of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

Ann Lee Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784), commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was the founding leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, or the Shakers. After nearly two decades of participation in a r ...

, leader of the Niskayuna Shaker settlement

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watervliet (Town), New York Colonie, New York Former towns in New York (state) Populated places in Albany County, New York