Saturday, June 30, 2007

A Little History - West Troy was never part of Troy

Surprise !
Most people think that the Village of West Troy, NY was part of the City of Troy, NY.
In fact, the Village of West Troy, the Town of Watervliet, the Village of Green Island, Cohoes and all lands on the west side of the Hudson River were never part of Troy. The mistake is common and comes primarily from what the name " West Troy" infers.
In 1788 the Town of Watervliet was about 60 square miles in size and included most of current Albany County. The Town of Watervliet included and encompassed the current City of Watervliet (West Troy, Gibbonsville and Port Schuyler) , the Town of Colonie, the Town of Guilderland, Green Island, Cohoes, most of the City of Albany (except Fort Orange area), Rensselaerville, and Niskayua. From 1800 to 1896 these and other villages and hamlets partition and annexed from the Town of Watervliet to form their own municipalities. In 1896 the Town of Colonie and the Village of Green Island were partitioned and the Village of West Troy became the City of Watervliet.
Watervliet was never part of the City of Troy, BUT, has always been a "little sister" affected by Troy's close proximity and in many ways was influenced by the same winds of fortune as the Collar City.

History lets us know where we have been and provides ideas for positive change for the future.
So,

Why is Watervliet Not Part of Troy Now?
Would not the combining of the Cities cut costs to the Taxpayers?
One Police Dept, one Fire Dept, no duplicate bureaucracy.
Watervliet is 10,000 persons - Troy is 45,000 persons
55,000 is still a small city ....Combining makes sense

Why not! (politicians maybe)



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Somebody show set the people in Troy straight about Vliet not being part of Troy

Anonymous said...

Somebody should put this information in the paper so everyone will know

Anonymous said...

Good for people to know.