East Greenbush | |
|---|---|
 The East Greenbush Town Hall on Columbia Turnpike | |
| Etymology: DutchGreenen Bosch, "pine woods." | |
 Location inRensselaer County and the state ofNew York. | |
.svg) Location of New York in the United States | |
| Coordinates:42°36′44″N73°41′58″W / 42.61222°N 73.69944°W /42.61222; -73.69944 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Rensselaer |
| Incorporation astown | 1855 |
| Government | |
| • Town supervisor | Jack Conway |
| Area | |
• Total | 24.29 sq mi (62.92 km2) |
| • Land | 24.02 sq mi (62.21 km2) |
| • Water | 0.27 sq mi (0.71 km2) |
| Elevation | 236 ft (72 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 16,748 |
| • Density | 697.3/sq mi (269.2/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Area code | 518 |
| FIPS code | 36-083-22117 |
| FIPS code | 36-22117[2] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0978918[3] |
| Wikimedia Commons | East Greenbush, New York |
| Website | eastgreenbush |
East Greenbush is atown inRensselaer County, New York, United States. It is a suburb ofAlbany. The population was 16,748 at the 2020 census.[4] The word Greenbush is derived from the Dutchhet groen bosch, referring to the pine woods that originally covered the land.[5] The first settlement of the land now known as East Greenbush was made by tenants under patroonKiliaen van Rensselaer circa 1630. The town was established in 1855 asClinton, and was renamed in 1858. It is mostly suburban along its major highways and rural in the southwestern and northeastern corners.
I-90 traverses the town. It contains the western (or southern) terminus ofUS 4 and the northern terminus ofNY 9J; as well asUS 9 andUS 20. The latter run concurrently, under the name Columbia Turnpike, which is often referred to by the locals as "9 and 20."
East Greenbush, at the time part of theTown of Greenbush, was part of the Manor ofRensselaerswyck, and then ofAlbany County, prior to the creation ofRensselaer County in 1791. The town of Clinton was established on February 23, 1855, from the town of Greenbush at the same time as the town ofNorth Greenbush. On April 14, 1858, the town name was changed to East Greenbush by New York State Laws of 1858, Chapter 194.
Early European settlement along the Hudson River shoreline took placecirca 1628-1629 and in 1669, a fort was built on Papscanee Island. Thehamlet ofEast Greenbush was settled around 1630, with a Dutch Reformed church first built in 1787, and a post office was established in 1845.[6] From the late 18th century until his death in 1834, Prospect Hill on Hays Road in the southern section of the town was home toEdmond-Charles Genêt, former adjutant-general,minister plenipotentiary, and consul-general to the United States representing France; and as an American citizen he was a New York state legislator from Rensselaer County and a major-general in the state militia.[6]
The town's main thoroughfares are quite old, starting with the old post roads constructed during theFrench and Indian Wars by theEnglish.[6] The Boston and Albany Turnpike was constructed in 1800,[6] today known as the Columbia Turnpike designated asUS Routes 9 and20. Another major highway in the town, the Farmer's Turnpike, also was built at or before this time; today it isNY Route 9J.[7]
The town saw at least one memorable event during theAnti-Rent War, which was a popular revolt among tenants of the last patroon of Rensselaerswyck over rent payments. A deputy sheriff named Griggs was killed in the line of duty while evicting a man by the name of Witbeck from his farm.[6] The area of East Greenbush behind the Town Hall was the site of a huge cantonment, occupied by over 5,000 soldiers during theWar of 1812; this included a hospital, barracks, and an arsenal.[7] Along the Hudson River, near Papscanee Island, in the mid-late 19th century a large farm was occupied by Colonel Kiliaen van Rensselaer, great-grandson of his namesake and firstPatroon of Rensselaerswyck,Kiliaen van Rensselaer.[6]
In the late 1980s, the descendants of the original Dutch settlers on Papscanee Island came under pressure from suburban development in the area, and theOpen Space Institute purchased large parcels of land and development rights to surrounding areas, creating the Papscanee Preserve.[8]] In 1997, the county took charge of management and the park has been developed with informational signs, trails, picnic areas, and a central theme dedicated to theMohican natives of the areas.[9]
TheJohn Carner Jr. House andCraver Farmstead are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[10]
Places adjacent to East Greenbush, New York | ||||||||||||||||
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According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 24.4 square miles (63.1 km2), of which 24.1 square miles (62.4 km2) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.6 km2) is water.
The western section of the town, along theHudson River is marked by bluffs that rise to an elevation of between 100 and 300 feet.[11] The little flat land that exists along the river is on the Papscanee Island. Papscanee Island is actually a peninsula,[8] separated from the rest of the town by the Papscanee Creek. The town then spreads out as rolling hills rising towards the east. Mill Creek (formerly TierkenKill) and Morden Creek are the principal streams of the town.[11]
East Greenbush is bordered by the town of North Greenbush to the north, the town ofSand Lake to the east, and the town ofSchodack to the south. To the west the town borders the city ofRensselaer from the North Greenbush line to the southern tip of the city, then East Greenbush's border is withAlbany County town ofBethlehem, the border being in the middle of the Hudson River.
On February 9, 2004, Jon W. Romano, then 16 and a student atColumbia High School, fired three rounds with a 12-gauge shotgun. One teacher, Michael Bennett, was injured in the leg when Romano fired the gun when he was rushed and tackled by Bennett and then Assistant Principal John Sawchuck.[20] He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and the sentence was upheld on appeal in 2007.[21]
On January 10, 2009, TheNew York State Police stopped a taxi cab for speeding onInterstate 90 in East Greenbush, westbound between exits 10 and 9. When the trooper approached the vehicle, a passenger in the taxi opened fire with a high poweredAK-47, prompting a massive police response. The suspect was eventually shot by police and later died from his injuries atAlbany Medical Center inAlbany, New York. The suspect was travelling fromMassachusetts to Albany, it was never discovered what his motives or intentions were.[22]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 1,607 | — | |
| 1870 | 1,845 | 14.8% | |
| 1880 | 2,127 | 15.3% | |
| 1890 | 2,171 | 2.1% | |
| 1900 | 2,036 | −6.2% | |
| 1910 | 1,350 | −33.7% | |
| 1920 | 1,558 | 15.4% | |
| 1930 | 3,267 | 109.7% | |
| 1940 | 4,550 | 39.3% | |
| 1950 | 6,338 | 39.3% | |
| 1960 | 9,107 | 43.7% | |
| 1970 | 10,679 | 17.3% | |
| 1980 | 12,913 | 20.9% | |
| 1990 | 14,076 | 9.0% | |
| 2000 | 15,560 | 10.5% | |
| 2010 | 16,473 | 5.9% | |
| 2020 | 16,748 | 1.7% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[23][24] | |||
According to the 2000 census,[2] there were 15,560 people, 6,084 households, and 4,185 families residing in the town. The ethnic composition of the town was 94.01%White, 2.85%Black orAfrican American, 0.13%Native American, 1.94%Asian, 0.02%Pacific Islander, 0.29% fromother races, and 0.76% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 1.33% of the population. The estimated median household income in 2016 was $93,984, an increase from $62,250 in 2000. The average salary for males is $61,819, and the average salary for females is $54,213.
TheEast Greenbush Central School District comprises five public elementary schools (Bell Top Elementary School, in North Greenbush, Genêt Elementary, Green Meadow Elementary School, Red Mill Elementary School, and Donald P. Sutherland Elementary School), a private Catholic school (Holy Spirit School), and a Montessori school (Woodland Hill Montessori School), a middle school (Howard L. Goff Middle School), and a high school (Columbia High School).
TheEast Greenbush Community Library serves nearly thirty-thousand patrons in a chartered district which includes the town of East Greenbush and portions of the town ofSchodack. The library is a member of the Upper Hudson Library System, a resource-sharing consortium consisting of twenty-nine public libraries in the counties of Albany and Rensselaer. In 2001, the library moved from the East Greenbush Town Hall to its current location on Michael Rd.
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