The land passed intoEnglish rule in 1664; the Dutch regained control in 1673, but the English took it back in 1674. Until 1776, the year ofAmerican independence, the county was underEnglish orBritish control.[5] The county was not organized as a legal entity until after the Revolution, in 1791, when it was created from an area that was originally part of the very largeAlbany County.[6][7][a]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 665 square miles (1,720 km2), of which 652 square miles (1,690 km2) is land and 13 square miles (34 km2) (1.9%) is water.[8]
Rensselaer County is located in the far eastern part of New York State. The eastern boundary of the county runs along theNew York–Vermont andNew York–Massachusetts borders.
The highest point isBerlin Mountain, 2,818 feet (859 m) above sea level, in the town of Berlin. The lowest point is 62 feet (19 m) above sea level at the Hudson River's southernmost extent in the county.
Rensselaer 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 thecensus[22] of 2010, there were 159,429 people, 62,694 households, and 39,989 families residing in the county. The population density was 233 inhabitants per square mile (90/km2). There were 69,120 housing units at an average density of 109 units per square mile (42/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 88.73%White, 7.14%Black orAfrican American, 0.23%Native American, 1.71%Asian, 0.02%Pacific Islander, 0.89% fromother races, and 1.34% from two or more races. 5.01% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 22.3% were ofIrish, 14.7%Italian, 12.8%German, 7.5%English, 6.2%French, 5.3%American and 2.3%Puerto Rican ancestry according toCensus 2010. 95.4% spokeEnglish and 2.7%Spanish as their first language.
There were 61,094 households, out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.80% weremarried couples living together, 12.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.80% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.20% under the age of 18, 10.10% from 18 to 24, 29.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,905, and the median income for a family was $52,864. Males had a median income of $36,666 versus $28,153 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $21,095. About 6.70% of families and 9.50% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 11.90% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.
Rensselaer County Office building, which houses county offices, including that of the County ExecutiveRensselaer CountyCourthouse, located on the corner of Congress and 2nd Streets in Troy
United States presidential election results for Rensselaer County, New York[23]
From1884 through the1988 campaign, voters in Rensselaer County chiefly supported the Republican candidate.Donald Trump carried the county in2016.
Beginning in 1791, Rensselaer County was governed by a Board of Supervisors, which acted as theLegislature, with the chairman of the board serving as ade facto Executive. The Board of Supervisors form of government was terminated as a result of a class action lawsuit brought by Troy attorney Marvin I. Honig on behalf of his wife, Nedda, during March 1968. Mr. Honig brought this lawsuit to declare that the Board of Supervisors, as constituted, violated the "one man, one vote" principal declared by the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Honig's motive in bringing the lawsuit was to punish the Rensselaer County Republican Party chairman and certain members of the Board of Supervisors for defaulting on an agreement with him. The NY Supreme Court ruled in Honig's favor, and ordered the creation of a legislative body. Several plans were offered, but a plan proposed by Honig was adopted by the Court, and its decision was affirmed by the Appellate Division and Court of Appeals. The first "Honig Plan" was drawn to favor the Democratic party, which had not had control of the county government in decades. That plan, which controlled the 1969 election, resulted in the Democrats winning control of the new Rensselaer County Legislature. Thereafter, following a change of leadership in the Republican party, Honig brought a new plan, drawn to favor Republican candidates, to the court, which adopted his revised plan. The second "Honig Plan" was affirmed by the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals. The Republican candidates won back the County Legislature in the 1971 election, and Honig became the Renssselaer County Attorney, a position he held for well over a decade. A full explanation of the creation of the Rensselaer County Legislature can be found in the November 2021 entry atnassau-stories.blogspot.com See also: The Troy Record, July 8, 1971, page 1.
In 1970, the Rensselaer County Legislature was created, which elected Edward J. "Ned" Quinn as chairman. Th. e chairman served as the equivalent to an executive until the office ofCounty Executive was created in 1972. Since its creation, Democrats have never won the office, although they controlled the Legislature until 1994. One notable candidate for Executive wasEdward Pattison who was later elected to Congress, and whose son Mark served two terms as Mayor ofTroy. The current county executive is Steve McLaughlin (R).
Legislative authority is vested in the County Legislature, which consists of 19 members representing 17 different communities, separated into six districts. The current composition of the Legislature is as follows (ten Republicans, six Democrats, two Conservatives who caucus with the Republicans, and one Independent who caucuses with the Republicans):
The county is serviced by 16 school districts. Some are completely contained in the county while some cross county lines into other counties. No school districts cross either theVermont orMassachusetts state borders. Below is a table that shows the districts within the county, whichBOCES they belong to, and which other counties they may serve.[28]
^ab"On February 7, 1791, a subdivision of the original Albany County was made and given the name of one of the famous families of the State, Rensselaer."[33]
^"RPI History". Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. RetrievedMay 1, 2009. Note: a possible competitor for this title is the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, which claims to have the oldest engineering department in the US"West Point - SPMigrationTemplate". Archived fromthe original on August 29, 2012. RetrievedSeptember 25, 2022.. While this is true, it is still true that RPI offered the first engineeringdegree (Civil Engineering) in 1835. The statement of being 'the oldest" is thus justified in different ways by both. The modifier "in continuous existence" appears in Ricketts, Palmer C.History of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2nd e.
Sylvester, Nathaniel Bartlett (1880).History of Rensselaer Co., New York with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia: Everts & Peck.OCLC3496287.
