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Colonie NY

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About Colonie NY

"Colonie is a town in Albany County, New York. It is the most populous suburb of Albany, New York, and, in fact, has a greater population than the City of Albany, and it is the third largest town in area in Albany County, occupying about 11% of the county.

Several hamlets exist within the town. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 79,258. The name is derived from the Dutch Colonye or "Colonie," derived from the Colonie of Rensselaerswyck. All the land outside the Village of Beverwyck (now Albany) was referred to as the "Colonie."

The town of Colonie is north of Albany, New York, and is at the northern border of the county. Within the town of Colonie are two villages (See Below), one also known as Colonie and the other known as Menands."

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History Colonie NY

The town/village of Green Island was also split off as a town from the town of Watervliet a year later and the village of West Troy that remained became the current city of Watervliet. All debts from the original town were divided proportionally between Green Island, Watervliet, and Colonie.

Several lawsuits worked their way through the court system from the results of division. The original town of Watervliet was the "mother of towns" in Albany County, having once been all the land outside of the city of Albany within the county, all current towns either were formed directly from Watervliet or from a town formed from Watervliet.

Through to the 1930s, Colonie was a simple series of extensive farms and a few hamlets. However, in the post-war years, there was intensive suburban development, originally on the corridor that connected Albany and Schenectady, but quickly throughout the entire township.

By 1980, suburban development had saturated the community. At the same time, there were large highways (I-87, I-787, US Rt. 9 and NY Rt. 7) constructed which drastically changed the nature of the town and life there. The Colonie of the 1990s was an entirely different community from the town of fifty years before."

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Village of Colonie NY

"Colonie is a village in Albany County, New York, USA. The population was 7,916 at the 2000 census. The village of Colonie is within the town of Colonie. Both are north of the city of Albany, the capital of New York.

On March 2, 1921 - the Village of Colonie was incorporated. The first Board of Trustees meeting was held four weeks later at the Colonie Village schoolhouse at 8:00 p.m, Wednesday, March 30, 1921, with the Mayor, Charles H. Collins, presiding over the Board of Trustees.

That night the Village government borrowed $500 for the purpose of defraying expenses of the incorporation, created the office of Police Justice, set a tax rate of $3.00 per $1,000 assessed valuation, established the first Village budget at $1285, and the Village was in business.

The Village of Colonie was little more than twin ribbons of buildings on either side of Central Avenue, stretching from the traffic light on Wolf Road to the traffic light on the western side of the Village.

In March of 1923, with Mayor Nordin Shambrook presiding, the Village borrowed $12,000 to pay its share of improving the Albany-Schenectady Road.

During the 1930's the Village continued to grow with a variety of ordinances being passed to keep abreast of the times and to insure a the Village would be "A Place to be Proud of."

• 1931 - Fire Company incorporated
• 1932 - Ordinance passed prohibiting swine in the Village
• 1933 - Budget approved at $12,000
• 1934 - Resolution made to construct underpass on Albany-Schenectady Road for the safety of Colonie Village school children
• 1936 - Special election held to vote on the establishment of Village water system; 91 voted for the system and 106 against it.
• 1937 - Budget set for $14,935
• 1938 - Budget $15,547
• 1939 - Budget now $16,067

In August 1940 the Village Board met with the Town of Colonie to discuss the purchase of water from the Latham Water District. It was agreed that the Village would use the main line on Wolf Road to furnish water to the Village residents. Bus service between Albany and Schenectady started, Lincoln Avenue was paved, a zoning commission was authorized to protect the Village from undesirable buildings and the 1949 budget was $18,316.

The fifties saw the Village continue to grow under the guidance of Mayor Fred Bauer as evidences by population as well as the size of the budget which grew from $24,000 in 1950 to $91,164 in 1959.

An interesting quirk in the 1960 election occurred. On May 23, 1960, due to a tie vote in the elections of the Trustees between Edward Mahoney and William Cook, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ruled that the choosing of the trustees would be done by lots. The Clerk-Treasurer produced a deck of cards. Bill Cook drew the jack of diamonds and Ed Mahoney drew the eight of diamonds. Thus, at the flip of a card and the luck of the draw, Bill Cook became a trustee, launching him into his political career. Bill went on to become Mayor and served in that post until he retired.

Perhaps the most accelerated growth both in terms of size and delivery of services to Village residents took place during the 12-year leadership of Mayor Bill Cook from 1960 to 1972.Mayor Charles Milton took office and started rubbish pick-up route and continuation of the sewer project in the Village.

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Village of Menands NY

Menands would have been first spotted by Europeans in 1609 when Henry Hudson dropped anchor somewhere near Cuyler or Pleasure Island during his voyage on the river later to be named after him. This would be the furthest north on the river that Hudson would go in the Half Moon. Today those islands are connected to the mainland, and are the site of Interstate 787 exits 6 and 7, which includes the cloverleaf interchange with NY 378 and the Troy-Menands Bridge.

Louis Menand settled in the village in 1842 and established an important horticultural business. He at first rented land that later became the Home for Aged Men, and then in 1847 bought 11 acres of land where the Albany-Watervliet Turnpike (today Broadway) met the road going to Ireland's Corners (today Loudonville), that road is today called Menand Road.

When the Albany and Northern Railroad was built in 1856 it established a stop in present-day Menands and named the stop "Menand's Crossing" since Menand was the only landowner in that area at the time. When the Albany and Northern became part of the Delaware and Hudson a station was built at that stop and called "Menand's Station".

In the early 1920s rumors circulated that the city of Albany was going to annex the area and so on August 23, 1924 a vote was taken and the village of Menands was incorporated by a vote of 167 for and 47 against, the population of the new village at that time being 1,272 people. The boundaries of the new village were those of the 15th School District of the town of Colonie. The original boundaries did not include what are now the Sage Hill Lane, Sky Hollow, and Roost Country Estates, those were annexed later and continue to be in the North Colonie Central School District.

When the Erie Canal was originally constructed it passed through what would become Menands. Bridges spanned the canal to allow access to the land between the canal and the Hudson. From north to south they were- Richardson, Mix, Leary, Keyes, Kanes, Lundergans, Island Park, Delaware and Hudson Railroad, and Garbarance. Most of the names of the bridges were those of the neighboring farm owners.

In 1938 the first large scale Federal Housing Administration multiple housing project in Upstate New York was conceived by Harry D. Yates on 13 acres of land in Menands. The land was purchased for $20,000, from the Van Rensselaer family who had owned it since 1639.

Original plans called for 30 buildings, but cost overruns trimmed it to 13. All thirteen were named for historic people and locations in the Capital District; subsequent additions have kept to that tradition with the exception of Tremaine House, named for a former NY State Comptroller and Yates House for a former manager of Dutch Village.

In 1940 the now-defunct New York Herald Tribune declared Dutch Village to be "one of the most interesting scale housing developments in the East". The steeped roofs and brick construction were designed to reflect early Dutch architecture. Wards Lane at the time was small and unpaved on a steep slope, but by using money from a federal program designed to pave "farm to market" roads the project was able to improve the road to Dutch Village without any cost to the village of Menands.

The village's current motto, "Urban-Surburban Village," and its official seal, came into being as part of the village's 50th anniversary celebrations in 1974. The motto and seal were chosen based on contest entries submitted by local school children at Menands Elementary school. Two boys came up with the design for the seal, and the motto was chosen from an entry by a girl in the school's seventh grade class.

In the mid-late 19th and early 20th centuries Menands was a popular destination for entertainment and amusement. Pleasure Island and Park Island (constructed in 1866) had trotting tracks and various entertainment venues.

In 1884 the Island Park Association leased the race course, Island Park, directly north of Pleasure Island, it was considered one of the fastest and safest in the nation. Among the festivities and activities at Pleasure Island were a two-mile (3 km) bicycle race, a sack race, barrell race, swimming exhibition, trotter race, and fireworks.

In 1907 Al-Tro Island Park renovated Pleasure Island, Al-Tro was named for being halfway between Albany and Troy, and the park's manager boasted of surpassing Coney Island. The park had a 900-foot-long (270 m) and 40-foot-wide (12 m) boardwalk, with amusements on each side. About halfway down the boardwalk was an amphitheater that could seat 4000, it was one of the largest in the state. At the time Al-Tro Park was considered the finest pleasure resort in northern New York.

In the early 1920s Al-Tro closed and the concept was used in the late 1920s by nearby Mid-City Park, an amusement park along Broadway on the other side away from the river, it had a roller coaster, merry-go-round, roller skating rink, and swimming pool; it too would close after a few decades. It was replaced by the current Mid-City Shopping Center.

Baseball was also a popular entertainment venue in Menands bringing in spectators from across the region. Chadwick Park was home to the Albany Senators who played in the New York State League, Eastern League, International League, New York-Pennsylvania League, and the modern Eastern League.

On May 30, 1924 the Senators played a double header at home against the Pittsfield Hillies, the first game lasted 9 innings but the second game went for 20, it is still one of the longest double headers by number of innings in professional baseball.

In 1928 Chadwick Park was rebuilt, in 1929 it was renamed Hawkins Stadium, and in 1930 General Electric installed lights for night games. It was at Hawkins Stadium that the New York Yankees played the Albany Senators in 1931 before a crowd of 6,300; Babe Ruth hit two home runs. The Senators folded in 1959. It too was demolished to make way for the Mid-City Shopping Center and a state office building for the New York State Office of Workmen’s Compensation.

From June 12, 1947 to September 2, 1963 Empire Raceways was a popular entertainment venue. It was a quarter mile paved oval track and was located close enough to the Hudson River that spectators would sit on the Troy-Menands Bridge and watch the races for free. The location would later become the site of a Two Guys Department Store and Interstate 787.

Two Guys was just one of the retail locations in Menands that made Menands a shopping destination for the surrounding area. In addition to Two Guys there was a Woolworth, Montgomery Wards, several grocery stores, and various other shops along Broadway. The Two Guys location on Broadway, located next to the Troy-Menands Bridge, was one of only two in the area, the other being in downtown Schenectady.

Another retail landmark in Menands was the Montgomery Ward Retail Store and Warehouse built in 1929, it was one of nine similar buildings built in the 1920s, and one of four that still remain. The building had its own railroad spur that allowed boxcars to be unloaded inside, making delivery of goods to the building easier. Montgomery Wards left the building in the 1970s. Today the building is office space, mostly geared towards state agencies."

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