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NISKAYUNA SINCE 1640
The name "Niskayuna" is said to be derived from that of the Conistigione Indians occupying the locality at the coming of the Dutch about 1640 and to signify "extensive corn flats."
Niskayuna was formed in 1809 when Schenectady County was separated from Albany County. Its population then was 681 and it contained 10,471 acres - about a thousand acres greater than its present area. By 1858 the population was 1,120 and that of the City of Schenectady was 8,389.
The Indians, though friendly, were apprehensive of the increase of the whites and in every deed were careful to reserve rights of hunting and fishing. In 1746, one of the line of blockhouses from Fort Massachusetts to Fort Hunter was built in Niskayuna by Governor Clinton. Most of the sandy parts of the town were covered in the early days by a dense growth of pine some of which still remains. The first settlers sometimes intermarried with the Indians whose blood is still in some of our old and respected families.
Union St., Schenectady, was formerly Niskayuna Street and College Hill was called Niskayuna Bergh. About 1800, a stone tramway from Albany to Schenectady was built through Niskayuna and tolls were still being collected in 1886.
The bridge across the Mohawk at Rexford was known as Alexander's Bridge when built in 1805 and there was a succession of low falls there. The old Erie Canal formerly crossed the River here into Niskayuna on an aqueduct 748 feet long and 25 feet above the stream. There were three locks on it between Rexford and Schenectady.
When Thomas A. Edison located his Works in Schenectady, Niskayuna had four schoolhouses each with one teacher who was paid $7.50 per week. The average cost of the schoolhouses was $600 and there were 298 scholars. The Reformed Church of Niskayuna was organized about 1750.
Prominent in the town 100 or more years ago were families whose names still cling to Schenectady area streets and places: Maxon, Van Vranken, Vedder, Van Antwerp, Vrooman, Craig, Mesick, Lansing, and Stanford. Senator Charles Stanford was a brother of Leland Stanford, Governor of California, for whom the University was named. Charles Stanford removed to California where he had large commercial interests with branches in Australia and New Zealand. He returned in 1865 and acquired the property now known as Stanford Heights. In 1790 this place was called the Hermitage and the site of the original house is still marked by its old well that stood by the door. The Ingersoll Memorial Home now occupies part of this property. The present Mohawk Mall and parts of the State's O.D. Heck facility are on sites once part
of the Stanford Golf Course.
John T. McGovern was appointed special officer in 1928 by the Town Board. This appointment met with general approval and "Mac" made many friends among the children as well as grown-ups in his long tenure. As additional officers were appointed and sworn, Mac was made the Town's first Police Chief. He was succeeded by Thomas Sims and then Clifford Crookes, who in turn was succeeded by a second John T. McGovern, the son of our first Chief. The current Niskayuna Police Chief is Lewis Moskowitz who, in January, 2005, succeeded Mark Sollohub, who served as Chief for fifteen years.
The preliminary 1940 census figures gave the town of Niskayuna a population of 6,130, an increase of 1,199 since 1930 making it eligible to become a First Class town, a formal State designation. When a township exceeds 5,000 in population it may by referendum assume the status of a First Class town and be governed by a Town Board with the Supervisor as chairman, and that did indeed happen.
In 1950, Town population reached 9,442; in 1960, 14,032; and in 1970, 17,879. Population fell off slightly to 17,471 in 1980, but reached a new high in 1990 of 19,048. The 2000 census reported the Niskayuna population as 20,295.
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