Albany County Timeline

The mission of the Hall of Records is to preserve, educate and promote the rich history of Albany County of the State of New York.

The timeline presented is a listing of historical highlights emphasizing significant and varied records which can be beneficial to researchers and other interested parties.

The Hall of Records, under the jurisdiction of Albany County Clerk, Thomas G. Clingan, is a user-friendly repository which can be visited Monday through Friday from 8:30am-4:30pm.

For further information, contact Deputy Director, Craig Carlson at (518) 436-3663 or craig.carlson@albanycounty.com

Pre-1300–1699

pre-1300	Algonkian-speaking people, the Mahikans, call the Albany area: "The Fireplace of the Mahikan Nation."
ca. 1300-1600	Iroquois move into the area, threatening the Mahikans.
1540	Reputed settlement by French fur traders on Westerlo Island.
1570	Establishment of the Iroquois Confederacy, includes the Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Mohawk and Oneida tribes.
1609	Seeking northwest passage to China, Henry Hudson, master of Dutch East India Company ship Half Moon, reaches Albany on September 19, remains until September 23 French explorer Samuel de Champlain explores the lake now named for him.
1610–1613	Amsterdam merchants send ships up the Hudson River to trade for furs. Dutch begin to explore interior of country.
1614	Fort Van Nassau is built on Westerlo Island. Map showing Dutch explorations of region and the fort is presented to States General in Holland, who grant permission for further trading voyages Hendrick Christiaensen is named fort commander.
1617	Indians slay Hendrick Christiaensen for fancied wrong. Flood washes out Fort Van Nassau, which is then rebuilt at foot of Normanskill.
1618	Treaty of Tawasentha is made at Normanskill outlet by Jacob Eelkens, new commander of Fort Van Nassau.Iroquois. Five Nations observe treaty until the time of the American Revolution. Thirty Years' War begins in Europe, it will involve most Western European nations and be immensely destructive.
1621	Dutch West India Company is formed at Amsterdam to develop trade in America.
1624	The 260 ton ship New Netherland sets sail from Amsterdam in March carrying Walloon refugees, French-speaking Protestants. Several families settle around Fort Orange, built at foot of Madison Avenue. Fort Orange was named in honor of Maurice, Prince of Orange. Fifteen hundred beaver and 500 otter skins are shipped to Holland. More settlers will arrive in 1625, bringing cows, horses, and sheep.
1626	The Mahikans seek Dutch support against the Mohawks Fort Orange commander Daniel Kriekebeck is killed by Mohawks for aiding Mahikans and the settlement is largely evacuated.
1629	A huge land area, approximately 1 million acres, is purchased for Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer and known as Rensselaerswijck (now Albany and Rensselaer Counties). On orders from Holland, patroonships are created for those who would establish settlements.
1630	Ship Unity sets sail from Amsterdam with 30 settlers for Van Rensselaer's colony. Unity arrives in early June.
1636	Albert Andriesen Bradt rents a sawmill on the Normanskill Creek from the Patroon.
1640	First Dutch minister Domine Johannes Megapolenis arrives. Hendrick Albertsen establishes first ferry to Greenbush.
1648	Treaties of Westphalia ends Thirty Years' War.
1650	First schoolhouse is erected, Andreas Jansen teacher. On December 12, Philip Peter Schuyler marries Margarietta Van Schlechtenhorst, daughter of Brant Arent Van Schlechtenhorst.
1652	Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant has soldiers pull down Patroon's flag and orders the removal of Patroons's trading post and houses from vicinity of Fort Orange; creates free village of Beverwyck.
1658	Record beaver trade: more than 57,000 skins are shipped to Holland.
1660	Beverwyck and Fort Orange are enclosed in wooden stockades as defense against Indians.
1661	Arent Van Curler leaves Fort Orange (Albany) to found Schenectady, and satellite communities are developed.
1662	Governors of Boston, Nova Scotia and New York meet in Fort Orange to make peace with Iroquois.
1663	Small pox epidemic breaks out at Fort Orange and Beverwyck, killing many Indians and settlers.
1664	Dutch surrender New Netherland to the English Duke of York. Beverwyck becomes Albany, an English community by conquest. Area is named for Scottish title of Duke of York and Albany. John Shutter is appointed the first English schoolmaster.
1666	Parliament passes the Navigation Acts to regulate mercantilist balance of trade with British Colonies.
1673	The Dutch recapture Albany, and rename it Willemstadt. It will be returned to English by treaty in 1674.
1676	Fort Frederick is built on hill. State Street is called Jonkheers's or "Gentlemen's" Street.
1677	Commissioners from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland and Virginia come to Albany to make peace with Iroquois.
1683	Albany County is established by New York Provincial Assembly; one of 12 original counties. Albany County encompasses all of modern New York State north of Dutchess and Ulster Counties, as well as most of Vermont.
1684	Iroquois Indians declare Albany their "House of Peace," or treaty capital. Fur trade fades, grain becomes cash crop.
1686	Governor Thomas Dongan grants Albany a city charter, the "Dongan Charter." Pieter Schuyler is appointed mayor; Robert Livingston, clerk.
1690	Massacre of Schenectady by French and Indians. Simon Schermerhorn rides all night to warn Albany.

Sources:

• Kimball, Francis P. Knickerbocker News, September 18, 1959
• Internet Time Line for Albany, NY
• Hislop, Codman Albany: Dutch, English, and American, The Argus Press, Publishers, Albany, New York, 1936.
• McEneny, John J. Albany, Capital City on the Hudson, An Illustrated History, c. 2006 (with special material, “Albany Time Line,” by Robert W. Arnold III)
• Roseberry, C. R. Albany: Three Centuries A County, The Argus Press, Publishers, Albany, New York, 1983.