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== History == [[File:Princetown, New York (444447615).jpg|thumb|Old store and post office, Kelly's Station]]The town of Princetown was established in 1798 by the [[New York State Legislature]], combining lands formerly known as Corry's Bush and land belonging to the Dutch Reformed Church in Schenectady.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Princetown, Portrait of a Town|last=Mastrean|first=Irma|publisher=The Princetown Historical Society|year=1990|location=Schenectady, NY|pages=28}}</ref> It was named for John Prince, a New York State assemblyman from Albany County who lived in Schenectady proper at the time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Princetown, Portrait of a Town|last=Mastrean|first=Irma|publisher=The Princetown Historical Society|year=1990|location=Schenectady, NY|pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=University of the State of New York Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IEnAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA57|year=1914|publisher=University of the State of New York|page=57}}</ref> Many of the early settlers of the town were from [[Scotland]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Princetown, Portrait of a Town|last=Mastrean|first=Robert|publisher=The Princetown Historical Society|year=1990|location=Schenectady, NY|pages=3}}</ref> and for almost all of its history, the town has been rural with an economy based in agriculture. Today the town is mostly a mix of farming and exurban development with a little light industry. In the past,{{when|date=November 2024}} the town had seven one-room schools.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Princetown, Portrait of a Town|last=Mastrean|first=Irma|publisher=The Princetown Historical Society|year=1990|location=Schenectady, NY|pages=45}}</ref> It was also home to the Princetown Academy and Female Seminary which opened in 1853 but operated for only three years before succumbing to financial mismanagement. The Academy was sponsored by the local Presbyterian church. In 1854, it had more than 400 students mostly from the local region but also included students from as far away as Cuba, Germany and Scotland.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Princetown, Portrait of a Town|last=Mastrean|first=Irma|publisher=The Princetown Historical Society|year=1990|location=Schenectady, NY|pages=53}}</ref> The Academy was located in the former hamlet of Princetown (Center). In the south end of the town was Cheeseman's Tavern (c. 1784) located in the hamlet of [[Gifford, New York|Gifford's (Corners)]]. Its owner, Joshua Cheeseman, was for a few years, a regionally well-known [[shinplaster]] banker, producing a number of paper notes used across the region.<ref name=":2" /> In the north end of the town, on the border with [[Duanesburg, New York|Duanesburg]], was the location of the estate of [[George William Featherstonhaugh|George William Featherstonaugh]], which was the subject of several [[Thomas Cole]] paintings. Featherstonaugh was an English-American geographer and geologist also especially interested in the use of rail transportation to modernize farming.
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