Tag: Schenectady
Schenectady ( /skəˈnɛktədi/) is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135. The name “Schenectady” is derived loosely from a Mohawk word for “on that side of the pinery,” or “near the pines,” or “place beyond the pine plains.”
The city of Schenectady is in eastern New York, near the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. It is in the same metropolitan area as the state capital, Albany; Schenectady is about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Albany.
When first encountered by Europeans, the area that is now Schenectady was the land of the Mohawk nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. When Dutch settlers arrived in the Hudson Valley in the 17th century, the Mohawk called the settlement at Fort Orange (present day Albany, NY) Schau-naugh-ta-da, meaning “over the pine plains.” Eventually, this word entered the lexicon of the Dutch settlers, but the meaning was reversed, and the name referred…
