Editing Albany County, New York (section)

==History==

===Colonial===
After [[England]] took control of the [[colony]] of [[New Netherland]] from the [[Dutch colonization of the Americas|Dutch]], Albany County was created on November 1, 1683,{{efn|name="Sullivan-founding"}} by [[New York Governor]] [[Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick|Thomas Dongan]], and confirmed on October 1, 1691.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Howell|editor-first=George Rogers|editor2-last=Tenney|editor2-first=Jonathan|title=Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations.|publication-place=New York|publisher=W. W. Munsell & Co.|year=1886|lccn=01014041|oclc=2367801|url={{Google Books|HGkJAQAAIAAJ|plainurl=yes}}|page=12}}</ref> The act creating the county vaguely defined its territory "to containe the Towns of Albany, the [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck|''Collony'' Rensselaerwyck]], [[Schenectady, New York|Schonecteda]], and all the villages, neighborhoods, and Christian ''Plantaçons'' on the east side of Hudson River from Roelef's Creek, and on the west side from Sawyer's Creek ([[Saugerties (village), New York|Saugerties]]) to the Sarraghtoga."<ref name="Howell1886p70">{{cite book|editor-last=Howell|editor-first=George Rogers|editor2-last=Tenney|editor2-first=Jonathan|title=Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations.|publication-place=New York|publisher=W. W. Munsell & Co.|year=1886|lccn=01014041|oclc=2367801|url={{Google Books|HGkJAQAAIAAJ|plainurl=yes}}|page=70}}</ref> The confirmation declared in 1691 was similar but omitted the Town of Albany, substituted "''Mannor'' of Ranselaerswyck" for "''Collony'' Rensselaerwyck", and stated "to the uttermost end of Sarraghtoga" instead of just "to Sarraghtoga". Livingston Manor was annexed to Albany County from Dutchess County in 1717.<ref name="Howell1886p70"/>

Albany's boundaries were defined more closely as state statutes would add land to the county, or more commonly subtract land for the formation of new counties.<ref name="Howell1886p71">{{cite book|editor-last=Howell|editor-first=George Rogers|editor2-last=Tenney|editor2-first=Jonathan|title=Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations.|publication-place=New York|publisher=W. W. Munsell & Co.|year=1886|lccn=01014041|oclc=2367801|url={{Google Books|HGkJAQAAIAAJ|plainurl=yes}}|page=71}}</ref> In 1772 with the creation of [[Tryon County, New York|Tryon]] and [[Charlotte County, Province of New York|Charlotte]] counties, Albany gained definitive boundaries and included what are now Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties; large parts of Greene and Washington counties; and the disputed southwest corner of Vermont.<ref name=Genealogy>{{cite web | title = The Districts of Albany County, New York, 1772–1784 | publisher = The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society | author = David Kendall Martin | url = http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=72 | access-date = August 30, 2009 | date =Fall 1990}}</ref>{{efn|name="Sullivan-founding"}}

The city of Albany was the first municipality within this large county,<ref name="Howell1886p71"/> founded as the village (dorp in Dutch) of [[Beverwyck]] by the [[Director-General of New Amsterdam]], [[Pieter Stuyvesant]], who also established the first court in Albany.<ref>{{cite book| title = The Settlement and Early History of Albany | url = https://archive.org/details/settlementandea00barngoog | first = William| last = Barnes | publisher = Gould, Banks, & Gould | year = 1851 | page = [https://archive.org/details/settlementandea00barngoog/page/n23 17]}}</ref> Albany was established as a city in 1686 by Governor Dongan through the [[Dongan Charter]] after the English took over the colony.<ref name="Howell1886p71"/> [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]] to the west was given a patent with some municipal rights in 1684 and became a borough in 1765.<ref name=Genealogy/>

The [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck]] was created as a district within the county in 1772, and later divided into two districts, one on each side of the Hudson River in 1779. The west district included all of what is now Albany County other than lands were in the city of Albany at the time.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Howell|editor-first=George Rogers|editor2-last=Tenney|editor2-first=Jonathan|title=Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations.|publication-place=New York|publisher=W. W. Munsell & Co.|year=1886|lccn=01014041|oclc=2367801|url={{Google Books|HGkJAQAAIAAJ|plainurl=yes}}|page=72}}</ref> Though the Manor of Rensselaerswyck was the only district (along with the city of Albany) in what is today Albany County, it was not the only district in what was Albany County at the time. [[Pittstown, New York|Pittstown]] in 1761, and [[Duanesburgh, New York|Duanesburgh]] in 1764, were created as townships. But when districts were created in 1772, those townships were incorporated into new districts, Pittstown in [[Schaghticoke, New York|Schaghticoke]] and Duanesburgh into the United Districts of Duanesburgh and Schoharie.<ref name=Genealogy/> Schenectady was also made from a borough to a district in 1772.<ref name=Gazetteer>{{cite book | title = Gazetteer of the State of New York | first = John| last = French | page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_R_zHwh4xByQC/page/n626 598] | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_R_zHwh4xByQC | year = 1860 | access-date = August 30, 2009 | publisher = R. Pearsall Smith}}</ref> Other districts established in 1772 were [[Hoosick, New York|Hoosick]], [[Coxsackie, New York|Coxsackie]], [[Cambridge, New York|Cambridge]], [[Saratoga, New York|Saratoga]], [[Halfmoon, New York|Halfmoon]], [[Kinderhook, New York|Kinderhook]], [[Canaan, New York|Kings]], [[Claverack, New York|Claverack]], [[Catskill (town), New York|Great Imboght]], and the [[Livingston Manor|Manor of Livingston]].

In a census of 1697, there were 1,452 individuals living in Albany County; two years later it would be counted as 2,016 at the beginning of [[King William's War]]. By the end of the war in 1698, the population had dropped to 1,482, but rebounded quickly and was at 2,273 by 1703. By 1723, it had increased to 6,501 and in 1731 to 8,573, which was slightly less than the population of the city of New York in the same year. In 1737, the inhabitants of Albany County would outnumber those of New York County by 17 people. In 1774, Albany County, with 42,706 people, was the largest county in colonial New York. According to the first Federal Census in 1790, Albany County reached 75,921 inhabitants and was still the state's largest county.<ref>{{cite web | title = Albany County | publisher = New York State Museum | url = http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/albanycounty.html | access-date = August 30, 2009 | archive-date = March 3, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211948/http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/albanycounty.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

===Formation of towns===
On March 7, 1788, the state of New York divided the entire state into towns eliminating districts as administrative units by passing New York Laws of 1788, Chapters 63 and 64.<ref name=Law>{{cite book | title = Laws of the State of New York | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GBWxAAAAIAAJ&q=an%20act%20for%20dividing%20the%20counties%20of%20this%20state%20into%20towns&pg=PA748 | page = 748 | publisher = State of New York | year = 1788 | access-date = August 31, 2009 | author1 = (state), New York}}</ref>

===Timeline of boundary changes===
[[File:Albany County 1777.png|thumb|left|300px|Albany County in 1777 in green]]
Albany County was one of the original twelve counties created by the [[Province of New York]] on November 1, 1683.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch 4/1:122)</ref> At the time, it included all of New York state north of [[Dutchess County, New York|Dutchess]] and [[Ulster County, New York|Ulster]] counties, all of what is now [[Bennington County, Vermont|Bennington County]] in [[Vermont]].<ref name="NYATLAS">Thorne, Kathryn Ford, Compiler & Long, John H., Editor: ''New York Atlas of Historical County Boundaries''; The Newberry Library; 1993.</ref>

On May 27, 1717, Albany County was adjusted to gain an indefinite amount of land from Dutchess County and other non-county lands.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch 333/1:915).</ref>

On October 7, 1763, [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]], as part of his [[Proclamation of 1763]], created the new [[Province of Quebec (1763–91)|province of Quebec]], implicitly setting the northern limit of New York at the parallel of [[45th parallel north|45 degrees north latitude]] from the Atlantic-St. Lawrence watershed westward to the [[St. Lawrence River]], implicitly setting the northern limit of Albany County, but it was never mapped.<ref>(Cappon, Petchenik, and Long, 1, 77, 90; Shortt and Doughty, 119—120).</ref>

On July 20, 1764, King George III established the boundary between [[New Hampshire]] and New York along the west bank of the [[Connecticut River]], north of [[Massachusetts]] and south of the parallel of [[45th parallel north|45 degrees north latitude]]. Albany County implicitly gained present-day [[Vermont]]. Although disputes occasionally broke out later, this line became the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont, and has remained unchanged to the present. When New York refused to recognize land titles through the [[New Hampshire Grants]] (towns created earlier by New Hampshire in present Vermont), dissatisfied colonists organized in opposition, which led to the creation of [[Vermont Republic|independent Vermont]] in 1777.<ref>(Slade, 13—19; Van Zandt, 63).</ref>

On July 3, 1766, [[Cumberland County, New York|Cumberland County]] was partitioned from Albany County to cover all territory to the northern and eastern limits of the colony, including [[Windsor County, Vermont|Windsor County]], most of [[Windham County, Vermont|Windham County]], and parts of [[Bennington County, Vermont|Bennington]] and [[Rutland County, Vermont|Rutland]] counties in present-day [[Vermont]].<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1297/4:904).</ref>

On June 26, 1767, Albany County regained all of Cumberland County.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1297/4:903).</ref>

On March 19, 1768, Albany County was re-partitioned, and Cumberland County restored.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1559/5:400).</ref>

On March 16, 1770, Albany County was again partitioned. [[Gloucester County, New York|Gloucester County]] was created to include all of [[Orange County, Vermont|Orange]], [[Caledonia County, Vermont|Caledonia]] and [[Essex County, Vermont|Essex]] counties, most of [[Washington County, Vermont|Washington County]], and parts of [[Orleans County, Vermont|Orleans]], [[Lamoille County, Vermont|Lamoille]], [[Addison County, Vermont|Addison]] and [[Chittenden County, Vermont|Chittenden]] counties in present-day Vermont.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1559/5:401).</ref>

On March 12, 1772, Albany County was partitioned again, this time into the counties of Albany, [[Tryon County, New York|Tryon]] (now [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery]]), and [[Charlotte County, Province of New York|Charlotte]] (now [[Washington County, New York|Washington]]). This established a definite area for Albany County of {{convert|5,470|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1534/5:321).</ref>

On March 24, 1772, Albany County was partitioned again, with an additional {{convert|50|sqmi}} handed over to Cumberland County.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1559/5:402).</ref>

On March 9, 1774, Albany County was partitioned again, this time passing {{convert|1090|sqmi}} to [[Ulster County, New York|Ulster County]].<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1665/5:662).</ref>

On April 1, 1775, Albany was again partitioned, this time giving up {{convert|60|sqmi}} to Charlotte County, who then exchanged this land with a like parcel in Cumberland County.<ref>(N.Y. Col. Laws, ch. 1719/5:779).</ref>

On January 15, 1777, Albany County was again partitioned, this time on account of the independence of [[Vermont]] from New York, reducing Albany County by an additional {{convert|300|sqmi}}.<ref>(Slade, 70–73; Van Zandt, 64; C. Williamson, 82–84, map facing 95, 100–102, 112–113).</ref>

On June 26, 1781, Bennington County, Vermont, attempted to annex a portion of Albany County that today includes portions of [[Washington County, New York|Washington]] and [[Rensselaer County, New York|Rensselaer]] counties to form what they called "The West Union".<ref>(Vt. State papers, 13:45–46).</ref> The fledgling United States – under the [[Articles of Confederation]] – arbitrated this annexation, and condemned it, resulting in Vermont ceasing the annexation on 1782-02-23.<ref>(Vt. State papers, vol 3, pt. 2; pp. 67–68).</ref>

On April 4, 1786, [[Columbia County, New York|Columbia County]] was created from {{convert|650|sqmi}} of Albany County land.<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1786, 9th sess., ch. 28/p. 49).</ref>

On March 7, 1788, New York, refusing to recognize the independence of [[Vermont]], and the attendant elimination of Cumberland County, attempted to adjust the line that separated Cumberland from Albany County in present-day Vermont, but to no effect.<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1788, 11th sess., ch. 63/pp. 746–747).</ref>

On February 7, 1791, Albany County was partitioned again, this time to form [[Rensselaer County, New York|Rensselaer]] and [[Saratoga County, New York|Saratoga]] counties. Rensselaer received {{convert|660|sqmi}}, while Saratoga received {{convert|850|sqmi}}. Also the town of [[Cambridge (town), New York|Cambridge]] was transferred to [[Washington County, New York|Washington County]]. A total of {{convert|1680|sqmi}} changed hands.<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1791, 14th sess., ch. 4/p. 201).</ref>

On June 1, 1795, Albany County was once again partitioned, this time losing {{convert|460|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} to [[Schoharie County, New York|Schoharie County]].<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1795, 18th sess., ch. 42/p. 588).</ref>

On April 5, 1798, another partition took place, with {{convert|90|sqmi}} passing to [[Ulster County, New York|Ulster County]].<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1798,21st sess., ch. 93/p. 273).</ref>

On March 25, 1800, once again Albany County was partitioned, with {{convert|360|sqmi}} being used to create [[Greene County, New York|Greene County]].<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1800, 23rd sess., ch. 59/p. 503).</ref>

On April 3, 1801, all New York counties were redefined, with Albany County gaining {{convert|10|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1801,24th sess., ch. 123/p. 290).</ref>

On March 7, 1809, [[Schenectady County, New York|Schenectady County]] was created from {{convert|230|sqmi}} of Albany County land,<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1808, 32nd sess., ch. 65, sec. 1/p. 458).</ref> reducing Albany County to its current size.<ref name="NYATLAS"/>

On March 3, 1888, Albany County ceded [[Peebles Island State Park|Havre Island]] to [[Saratoga County, New York|Saratoga County]].<ref>(N.Y. Laws 1888, 111th sess., ch. 42/p. 85).</ref>