Albany County (/ˈɔːlbəni/ⓘAWL-bə-nee) is acounty in thestate ofNew York, United States. Its northern border is formed by theMohawk River, at its confluence with theHudson River, which is to the east. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 314,848.[2] The county seat and largest city isAlbany,[3] which is also thestate capital of New York. As originally established by the English government in the colonial era, Albany County had an indefinite amount of land, but has had an area of 530 square miles (1,400 km2) since March 3, 1888. The county is named for theDuke of York andof Albany, who becameJames II of England (James VII of Scotland). The county is part of theCapital District region of the state.
AfterEngland took control of thecolony ofNew Netherland from theDutch, Albany County was created on November 1, 1683,[a] byNew York GovernorThomas Dongan, and confirmed on October 1, 1691.[4] The act creating the county vaguely defined its territory "to containe the Towns of Albany, theCollony Rensselaerwyck,Schonecteda, and all the villages, neighborhoods, and ChristianPlantaçons on the east side of Hudson River from Roelef's Creek, and on the west side from Sawyer's Creek (Saugerties) to the Sarraghtoga."[5] The confirmation declared in 1691 was similar but omitted the Town of Albany, substituted "Mannor of Ranselaerswyck" for "Collony Rensselaerwyck", and stated "to the uttermost end of Sarraghtoga" instead of just "to Sarraghtoga". Livingston Manor was annexed to Albany County from Dutchess County in 1717.[5]
Albany's boundaries were defined more closely as state statutes would add land to the county, or more commonly subtract land for the formation of new counties.[6] In 1772 with the creation ofTryon andCharlotte counties, Albany gained definitive boundaries and included what are now Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties; large parts of Greene and Washington counties; and the disputed southwest corner of Vermont.[7][a]
The city of Albany was the first municipality within this large county,[6] founded as the village (dorp in Dutch) ofBeverwyck by theDirector-General of New Amsterdam,Pieter Stuyvesant, who also established the first court in Albany.[8] Albany was established as a city in 1686 by Governor Dongan through theDongan Charter after the English took over the colony.[6]Schenectady to the west was given a patent with some municipal rights in 1684 and became a borough in 1765.[7]
TheManor of Rensselaerswyck was created as a district within the county in 1772, and later divided into two districts, one on each side of the Hudson River in 1779. The west district included all of what is now Albany County other than lands were in the city of Albany at the time.[9] Though the Manor of Rensselaerswyck was the only district (along with the city of Albany) in what is today Albany County, it was not the only district in what was Albany County at the time.Pittstown in 1761, andDuanesburgh in 1764, were created as townships. But when districts were created in 1772, those townships were incorporated into new districts, Pittstown inSchaghticoke and Duanesburgh into the United Districts of Duanesburgh and Schoharie.[7] Schenectady was also made from a borough to a district in 1772.[10] Other districts established in 1772 wereHoosick,Coxsackie,Cambridge,Saratoga,Halfmoon,Kinderhook,Kings,Claverack,Great Imboght, and theManor of Livingston.
In a census of 1697, there were 1,452 individuals living in Albany County; two years later it would be counted as 2,016 at the beginning ofKing William's War. By the end of the war in 1698, the population had dropped to 1,482, but rebounded quickly and was at 2,273 by 1703. By 1723, it had increased to 6,501 and in 1731 to 8,573, which was slightly less than the population of the city of New York in the same year. In 1737, the inhabitants of Albany County would outnumber those of New York County by 17 people. In 1774, Albany County, with 42,706 people, was the largest county in colonial New York. According to the first Federal Census in 1790, Albany County reached 75,921 inhabitants and was still the state's largest county.[11]
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.[12]
On July 20, 1764, King George III established the boundary betweenNew Hampshire and New York along the west bank of theConnecticut River, north ofMassachusetts and south of the parallel of45 degrees north latitude. Albany County implicitly gained present-dayVermont. Although disputes occasionally broke out later, this line became the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont, and has remained unchanged to the present. When New York refused to recognize land titles through theNew Hampshire Grants (towns created earlier by New Hampshire in present Vermont), dissatisfied colonists organized in opposition, which led to the creation ofindependent Vermont in 1777.[17]
On March 12, 1772, Albany County was partitioned again, this time into the counties of Albany,Tryon (nowMontgomery), andCharlotte (nowWashington). This established a definite area for Albany County of 5,470 sq mi (14,200 km2).[22]
On March 24, 1772, Albany County was partitioned again, with an additional 50 square miles (130 km2) handed over to Cumberland County.[23]
On March 9, 1774, Albany County was partitioned again, this time passing 1,090 square miles (2,800 km2) toUlster County.[24]
On April 1, 1775, Albany was again partitioned, this time giving up 60 square miles (160 km2) to Charlotte County, who then exchanged this land with a like parcel in Cumberland County.[25]
On January 15, 1777, Albany County was again partitioned, this time on account of the independence ofVermont from New York, reducing Albany County by an additional 300 square miles (780 km2).[26]
On June 26, 1781, Bennington County, Vermont, attempted to annex a portion of Albany County that today includes portions ofWashington andRensselaer counties to form what they called "The West Union".[27] The fledgling United States – under theArticles of Confederation – arbitrated this annexation, and condemned it, resulting in Vermont ceasing the annexation on 1782-02-23.[28]
On April 4, 1786,Columbia County was created from 650 square miles (1,700 km2) of Albany County land.[29]
On March 7, 1788, New York, refusing to recognize the independence ofVermont, and the attendant elimination of Cumberland County, attempted to adjust the line that separated Cumberland from Albany County in present-day Vermont, but to no effect.[30]
On February 7, 1791, Albany County was partitioned again, this time to formRensselaer andSaratoga counties. Rensselaer received 660 square miles (1,700 km2), while Saratoga received 850 square miles (2,200 km2). Also the town ofCambridge was transferred toWashington County. A total of 1,680 square miles (4,400 km2) changed hands.[31]
On June 1, 1795, Albany County was once again partitioned, this time losing 460 sq mi (1,200 km2) toSchoharie County.[32]
On April 5, 1798, another partition took place, with 90 square miles (230 km2) passing toUlster County.[33]
On March 25, 1800, once again Albany County was partitioned, with 360 square miles (930 km2) being used to createGreene County.[34]
On April 3, 1801, all New York counties were redefined, with Albany County gaining 10 sq mi (26 km2).[35]
On March 7, 1809,Schenectady County was created from 230 square miles (600 km2) of Albany County land,[36] reducing Albany County to its current size.[14]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 533 square miles (1,380 km2), of which 523 square miles (1,350 km2) is land and 10 square miles (26 km2) (2.0%) is water.[38]
Albany County is in east central New York, extending southward and westward from where theMohawk River joins theHudson River. Its eastern boundary is the Hudson; a portion of its northern boundary is the Mohawk.
The terrain of the county ranges from flat near the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers to high and hilly to the southwest, of theHelderberg Escarpment and theHelderberg Mountains. The highest point is one of several summits near Henry Hill at approximately 2,160 feet (660 m) above sea level; The lowest point is 62 feet (19 m) above sea level at the Hudson River's southernmost extent in the county.
The Capital District has ahumid continentalclimate, with cold, snowy winters, and hot, wet summers. Albany receives around 36.2 inches (920 mm) of rain per year, with 135 days of at least 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) ofprecipitation. Snowfall is significant, totaling about 63 inches (1,600 mm) annually,[40] but with less accumulation than thelake-effect areas to the north and west, being far enough fromLake Ontario. Albany County is however, close enough to the coast to receive heavy snow fromNor'easters, and the region gets the bulk of its yearly snowfall from these types of storms. The county also occasionally receivesAlberta clippers. Winters are often very cold with fluctuating conditions, temperatures often drop to below 0 °F (−18 °C) at night. Summers in the Albany can contain stretches of excessive heat and humidity, with temperatures above 90 °F (32 °C) and dew points near 70. Severethunderstorms are common buttornadoes are rare. Albany receives on average per year 69 sunny days, 111 partly cloudy days, and 185 cloudy days;[41] and an average, over the course of a year, of less than four hours of sunshine per day, with just over an average of 2.5 hours per day over the course of the winter.[42] The chance during daylight hours of sunshine is 53%, with the highest percentage of sunny daylight hours being in July with 64%, and the lowest month is November with 37%.[40]
Albany County has myriad different architectural styles spanning centuries of development.[43] Within the city of Albany alone there is Dutch Colonial (theQuackenbush House), French Renaissance (theNew York State Capitol), Federal style (the original Albany Academy in Academy Park), Romanesque Revival (Albany City Hall), Art deco (the Alfred E. Smith Building), and Modern (Empire State Plaza). The cities of Albany, Cohoes, and Watervliet and the village of Green Island are more urban in architecture; while the towns of Colonie, Guilderland, New Scotland, and Bethlehem more suburban and the remaining Hilltowns (Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville) very rural.
A bronze statue of the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns sculpted by Charles Calverley in 1888. This structure is located in the Washington Park neighborhood of Albany, New York.
Albany County is home to the Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center, which opened in July 2001 and is near the shore of Thompson's Lake between the two state parks that are in Albany County-Thompson's Lake State Park andJohn Boyd Thacher State Park. There are also state-owned nature preserves with interactive educational programs such as the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center and theAlbany Pine Bush. The cities, towns, and villages of Albany County have many municipal parks, playgrounds, and protected green areas.Washington Park in the city of Albany and The Crossing in the town of Colonie are two of the largest. There are many small hiking and biking trails and longer distance bike-hike trails such theMohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail which goes from the city of Albany north to Cohoes and then west along the Mohawk River to Schenectady County.
One of the largest events in Albany County is theTulip Fest held in the city of Albany every spring atWashington Park. The tradition stems from whenMayorErastus Corning 2nd had a city ordinance passed declaring thetulip as Albany's official flower on July 1, 1948.[44] TheAfrican-American tradition ofPinksterfest, whose origins are traced back even further to Dutch festivities, was later incorporated into the Tulip Fest. The Albany LatinFest has been held since 1996 and drew 10,000 to Washington Park in 2008.[45] PolishFest is a three-day celebration of Polish culture in the Capital District, held in the town of Colonie for the past eight years.[46]
Albany County has two shopping malls classified assuper-regional malls (malls with over 800,000 sq ft),[47]Crossgates Mall inGuilderland andColonie Center in Colonie with over one million square feet of rentable space in each. Huck Finn's Playland is a children's amusement park open during the summer, which started operations in the Summer of 2015—after purchasing the rides from the former Hoffman's Playland inNewtonville, which was in operation from 1951 to the Fall of 2014. During the winter there are over 18 miles (29 km) of official trails for snowshoeing at theAlbany Pine Bush Preserve, in the city of Albany and towns of Colonie and Guilderland.[48]
Albany County has many historical sites and museums covering a wide range of topics and time periods. TheAlbany Institute of History and Art, founded in 1791, is one of the oldest museums in the United States,[49] and theNew York State Museum is the country's oldest and largest state museum.[50] Many of the museums are historical sites themselves, such as Cherry Hill, theTen Broeck Mansion, and theSchuyler Mansion in the city of Albany and the Pruyn House in Colonie. TheQuackenbush House is the second oldest house in Albany and part of the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center, which includes aplanetarium. The Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center in Albany includes hands-on activities to learn about the uniquePine Bush Barrens of the Albany, Guilderland, and Colonie. Covering the history of pharmacy is the Throop Drug Store Museum at theAlbany College of Pharmacy. The USS Slater, DE-766 is a World War II Destroyer Escort, the last floating Destroyer Escort, owned by the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum is moored from Spring to Fall at the foot of Quay Street in the Hudson River. The ship is open for tours each week and has a well-maintained collection of World War II US Naval artifacts.
Albany County itself owns the largest venue for performing arts in the county, theTimes Union Center, which was originally built as the Knickerbocker Arena; it opened on January 30, 1990, with a performance byFrank Sinatra.[53] In 1996,The Grateful Dead released a concert album from their March 1990 performances titledDozin' at the Knick.[54]
Many athletes and coaches in major sports have begun their careers in Albany County.Phil Jackson, formerNBA head coach of theChicago Bulls andLos Angeles Lakers won his first championship ring as a coach when he guided theAlbany Patroons to the 1984 CBA championship. Three years later, the Patroons completed a 50–6 regular season, including winning all 28 of their home games; at that time,Sacramento Kings head coachGeorge Karl was the Patroons' head coach. Future NBA starsMario Elie andVincent Askew were part of that season's squad.Mike Tyson received his early training in the Capital District and his first professional fight was in Albany in 1985 and Tyson's first televised fight was in Troy in 1986. He fought professionally four times in Albany and twice each in Troy and Glens Falls between 1985 and 1986.
Albany County was originally settled primarily by Protestants from northern Europe: the Netherlands, British Isles, and Germany. In the 19th century it was a destination for many Catholic immigrants, first from Ireland—fleeing theGreat Famine—and later from southern Germany and central and southern Europe. Late 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants included Jews from eastern Europe. In addition to other Jewish congregations, the county has one of the fewKaraite Jewish communities outside Israel.[55] This community is active and has its own synagogue.[56] The Albany Metro Area has consistently been found to be among the highest rankingpostchristian cities in the US.[57]
Albany County, New York – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the 2020 US Census, there were 314,848 people in 126,540 households residing in the county.[2] The population density was 563 inhabitants per square mile (217/km2). There were 134,072 housing units at an average density of 248 units per square mile (96/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 78.2%White, 12.7%Black orAfrican American, 0.2%Native American, 4.8%Asian, 0.0%Pacific Islander, 1.6% fromother races, and 2.5% from two or more races. 4.9% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 19.2% were of Irish, 16.0% Italian, 11.0% German, 6.1% English and 5.1% Polish ancestry according toCensus 2000.[71] 90.4% spoke English, 2.7% Spanish and 1.0% Italian as their first language.
There were 124,682 households, out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.1% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county, the age distribution of the population shows 22.6% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,935, and the median income for a family was $56,724. Males had a median income of $39,838 versus $30,127 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $23,345. About 7.2% of families and 13.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
For most of its history, Albany County has predominantly backed Democratic Party presidential candidates. In only three elections since 1924 has a Republican Party candidate carried the county in a presidential election, the most recent beingRichard Nixon in 1972. The Democratic Party dominance has become more pronounced in recent years, withGeorge H. W. Bush in 1988 the most recent Republican candidate to win even forty percent of the county's vote.
United States presidential election results for Albany County, New York[75]
Albany County was governed by a board of supervisors until 1968.[76] The board consisted of thetown supervisors of each town in the county, as well as county supervisors elected from the wards of each city in the county.[77] In the later years of its existence, the board used a system ofweighted voting to comply with recently enacted federal and stateproportional representation requirements.[78] On January 1, 1976, Albany County government was changed by a new charter establishing acounty executive electedat-large, in addition to the 39-seat county legislature.[79] In the first election for county executive,Democratic nominee James J. Coyne Jr., who was then serving as county clerk, defeatedLiberal nominee Theresa Cooke, county treasurer and a critic of the county and city Democratic machine run byDaniel P. O'Connell, andRepublican nomineeAlmerin C. O'Hara, former state Commissioner of the Office of General Services.[80] Each of the 39 legislators are elected fromsingle-member districts. As of 2023, the county legislature has 29Democrats, 10Republicans.[81]
The County Executive is Daniel P. McCoy. Other officials elected countywide include District Attorney Lee Kindlon, Clerk Bruce A. Hidley, Comptroller Susan A. Rizzo, and Sheriff Craig D. Apple. All county officials are Democrats. Other elected officials with districts in the county include:
The Albany County Sheriff's Office is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States, having been established in the 1660s.[84] Sheriff Craig Apple was first elected in 2011.[85]
The sheriff is also responsible for the county jail, which was built in 1931,[86] and renamed from the Albany County Correctional Facility to the Albany County Corrections and Rehabilitative Services Center in 2019.[87] It has a contract withNew York City to accept prisoners from its facilities.The New York Times has reported that juveniles sent to Albany were beaten and placed in isolation, which is forbidden in New York City.[88]
Albany County has long been at the forefront of transportation technology from the days of turnpikes and plank roads to theErie Canal, from the first passenger railroad in the state to the oldest municipalairport in the United States. Today,Interstates,Amtrak, and theAlbany International Airport continue to make the Albany County a major crossroads of theNortheastern United States.
TheCapital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) is theMetropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Every metropolitan area in the United States with a population of over 50,000 must have a MPO in order to get any federal transportation funding. TheUS Department of Transportation (USDOT) uses an MPO to make decisions on what projects are most important to a metro area for immediate versus long term funding. The USDOT will not approve federal funds for transportation projects unless they are on an MPO's list.[91]
Since 1968 whenUnion Station in the city of Albany was abandoned for a new station across the Hudson in the city ofRensselaer, Albany County has been without a train station. Amtrak has several routes serving theAlbany-Rensselaer Station. TheAdirondack (north toMontreal,Quebec and south to the city of New York),Empire Service (west to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, south to New York),Ethan Allen Express (northeast toRutland, Vermont and south to New York),Maple Leaf (west to Toronto and south to New York), and theLake Shore Limited (at Albany-Rensselaer separate routes from Boston and New York merge to one train west to Chicago, on way east one train splits to two, one east to Boston and another south to New York).
^abc"On November 1, 1683, when the State of New York was divided into ten counties, Albany was erected as one of them with an exceedingly large territory. From its area has since been taken the counties of Tryon and Charlotte, in 1772; Columbia, in 1786; Rensselaer and Saratoga, in 1791; a part of Schoharie, in 1795; a part of Greene, in 1800; and Schenectady, in 1809."[92]
