Clarksville is a

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

in the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of New Scotland, Albany County,

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

, United States. It is situated along Delaware Turnpike (

New York State Route 443 New York State Route 443 (NY 443) is an east–west state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. The route begins at an intersection with NY 30 in the town of Schoharie and ends later at a junction wi ...

) in the southern part of the town at the foot of the

Helderberg Escarpment The Helderberg Escarpment, also known as the Helderberg Mountains, is an escarpment in eastern New York (state), New York, United States, roughly west of the city of Albany, New York, Albany. The escarpment is the northeastern extremity of th ...

. It is the site of the Clarksville Cave and has an annual Clarksville Heritage Day and Car Show. It is in the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company fire protection district.

History

In 1805, the Albany and Delaware Turnpike was constructed through what would later become Clarksville. Since this place was halfway between Albany and

Rensselaerville Rensselaerville () is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,826 at the 2020 census.2020 Census, US Census Bureau, Rensselaerville, New York The town is named after Stephen Van Rensselaer. History Rensselaervi ...

, Clarksville became a popular place for travelers to stop. Several inns, taverns, and other businesses were quickly established. Clarksville was originally the site of the

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, it being a part of that town until the establishment of the town of New Scotland. The post office and hamlet were later named Clarksville for Adam A. Clark, who came to the area in 1822. In 1853, the Reformed Church of Clarksville was established and a church built, and the Methodist church in 1860–1. In 1854, a

plank road A plank road is a road composed of Plank (wood), wooden planks or wikt:puncheon#Noun, puncheon logs, as an efficient technology for traversing soft, marshy, or otherwise difficult ground. Plank roads have been built since antiquity, and were comm ...

was built from Clarksville north and east to Feura Bush and Bethlehem Center to connect with the Albany and Bethlehem Turnpike to Albany. Clarksville was once the largest settlement in the town of New Scotland, until the convergence of railroads in Voorheesville in the late 19th century led to a boom in the north part of town.

Geography

Clarksville is situated in the southern portion of the town of New Scotland, along Delaware Turnpike (New York State Route 443) east of and at the foot of the

. Albany County Route 301 leads south to Tarrytown, Route 443 leads east to Unionville and west to the town of

Berne Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the " federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental i ...

. The

Onesquethaw Creek Onesquethaw Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 creek in Albany County, New York. It is a tributary of the Hudson River. It rises in the town of Ne ...

flows east along the south side of Route 443. The Clarksville ZIP Code (12041) is roughly a triangle with Stove Pipe Road on the western side and Upper Flat Rock Road as the eastern side. Bennett Hill Road and Plank Road are approximately the southern base of the triangle. Bennett Hill, 400 feet higher than the hamlet, towers over it to the south and west. The top of the hill is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

at an average height of 1120 feet above sea level, with the highest point being 1135 feet. The hill is part of a wilderness preserve owned by the

Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people (Kanien’kehá:ka), an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language (Kanien’kéha), the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a ...

. Clarksville Cave has three entrances and 4,800 feet of passages. Owned by the Northeastern Cave Conservancy Inc. and open to the public, the cave is the most actively used noncommercial cave system in the United States. First discovered in the 19th century, access was unrestricted until 2004, when the conservancy purchased two of the three entrances and began regulating access.

Location

Culture

Clarksville celebrates annually the Clarksville Heritage Day and Car Show the first Saturday every August. It is sponsored by the Clarksville Historical Society.

Education

Clarksville is a part of the

Bethlehem Central School District The Bethlehem Central School District is a public school district in New York State, serving approximately 4,100 students just south of Albany in the towns of Bethlehem and New Scotland in Albany County with a staff of 800+ and a budget of ...

(BCSD) and the children attend either Slingerlands or Eagle Elementary Schools for kindergarten through fifth grade; and Bethlehem Central Middle School and

Bethlehem Central High School Bethlehem Central High School is a public high school in Delmar, New York, just south of Albany. Located at 700 Delaware Avenue, the school serves students in grades 9–12 from the towns of Bethlehem and New Scotland. The school was ranked 36 ...

for sixth through twelfth.

Historic structures

* Clarksville Elementary School is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The school was closed after the 2010–11 school year. It is currently home to the Albany County Sheriff's Uniform Patrol Division.

Notable person

* Edwin Corning Jr., son of

Edwin Corning Edwin Corning (September 30, 1883 – August 7, 1934) was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was the lieutenant governor of New York from 1927 to 1928. Early life Corning was born on September 30, 1883, in Albany, New Yor ...

, brother of

Erastus Corning 2nd Erastus Corning 2nd (October 7, 1909 – May 28, 1983) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Albany, New York from 1942 to 1983, when Albany County was controlled by one of the last classi ...

, member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

References

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