Schenectady

Schenectady is located in Schenectady County, 20 miles northwest of Albany along Interstate 90 in the Central Region of the state. It lies on the banks of the Mohawk River on the eastern end of the Mohawk Valley.

Schenectady is one of the oldest cities in the United States, founded by Dutch settlers who purchased a parcel of land at the confluence of the Mohawk River and Binne Kill from the Mohawk Indians. In 1642, Arendt Van Curler toured the Mohawk River Valley and envisioned a settlement that would become Schenectady. Some 200 years later, in 1886, Thomas A. Edison moved his Edison Machine Works to Schenectady.

Today Schenectady, population 61,821, continues as a leading center for the research and manufacture of electrical equipment. In addition, chemicals are produced here. Schenectady is the site of Union College, the first regent-chartered New York state school.

The city is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York metro area.