Editing Sand Lake, New York (section)

== History ==
=== Early history ===
[[File:Rensselaer County 1829 Restored.jpg|thumb|Map of Rensselaer County in 1829 showing the pre-partition Town of Sand Lake]]
Sand Lake was first home to Native Americans. In 1629, [[Kiliaen van Rensselaer (merchant)|Kiliaen van Rensselaer]] acquired a 700,000-acre land grant to establish a [[New Netherland|Dutch colony]], encompassing what later became Sand Lake. Called the [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck]], it was 48 miles across and 24 miles long.<ref name="History of Sand Lake">{{Cite web |title=History of the Town of Sand Lake |url=https://www.townofsandlake.us/index.asp?SEC=B4097EAF-9A5C-4879-9D6B-5A993ED2B602&DE=DAE30084-F70F-4570-913B-F0C1A41757C9 |access-date=April 14, 2021 |website=www.townofsandlake.us |language=en}}</ref> In 1664, it became a colony of England and was called the Province of New York. It flipped back to the Dutch in 1672, and returned to the English in 1674.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" />

In the 1750s, Dutch settlers moved into what is now Sand Lake, followed by German pioneers.<ref name="Town of Sand Lake" /> By 1772, present day Sand Lake was in the [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck|Rensselaerwyck District]] of Albany County. It was held by the English until the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783).<ref name="History of Sand Lake" /> In 1792, when the town of Rensselaerwyck was divided into two towns, Greenbush and [[Stephentown, New York|Stephentown]]. Present day Sand Lake extended into both towns.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" />

In 1805, the Union Meetinghouse was built for worship by Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians. It was the town's oldest public building and was a station on the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref name="HM of Sand Lake" />{{efn|In 1776, a log building was constructed at [[Rensselaerwyck]], about one mile southwest of West Sand Lake, that served as a school, Lutheran church, and residence for a pastor.<ref name="HM of Sand Lake" />}}

=== Town of Sand Lake ===
The town of Sand Lake was formed from Greenbush and [[Berlin, New York|Berlin]] from an act of the legislature on March 21, 1812, and it was officially made a town on March 1, 1813.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" />{{efn|In 1843, a part of Greenbush was returned,<ref name="NY laws 1843">[https://books.google.com/books?id=9nRZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA84 Laws of the State of New York 1843: Wetherwax property removed from Sand Lake to Greenbush], page 84, accessed Nov 2019.</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/revisedstatutes00wolfgoog/page/n232 <!-- pg=199 quote=new york town Sand Lake boundary altered 1843. --> The revised statutes of the state of New York: ... to the close of the session of the Legislature of 1858, ...], Banks & Brothers, 1859, page 199, accessed Nov 2019</ref> and in 1848 the northern half was set off as a separate town under the name of Poestenkill.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qZ1DAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA76 Laws of the State of New York 1848: Partition of the Town of Sand Lake], page 76, accessed Nov 2019</ref>}} Municipal positions were established to be responsible to its citizens, including town clerk, assessors, and more. Calvin Thompson became the first Supervisor.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" /> The first postmaster, in 1815, was Daniel M. Gregory.<ref name="Kay, John L. 1982">Kay, John L., Smith, Chester M., Jr., ''New York Postal History: The Post Offices and First Postmasters from 1775 to 1980'', (1982) State College, PA, American Philatelic Society, {{ISBN|0-933580-05-3}}, p 266.</ref> The soil, especially on the eastern lowlands, is fertile for grazing and agriculture, particularly small fruit, strawberries, and other berrys.<ref name="Anderson p. 510" />

A new church building was established for the Trinity Lutheran Church in 1816. The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church opened in 1816 at the West Sand Lake site. There were a number of changes in the churches and its membership around the 1830s.<ref name="HM of Sand Lake" />{{efn|The meetinghouse of 1805 was split into separate Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptists churches. The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church was renamed the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1838 when a dispute among parishioners about temperance and abolition resulted in a division of the church. Some of the parishioners became members of the Second Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was an [[Underground Railroad]] station prior to the Civil War.<ref name="HM of Sand Lake" />}} The present town borders were established on March 2, 1848, when the town of Sand Lake was divided into towns, Sand Lake and [[Poestenkill, New York|Poestenkill]]. The town was governed by a supervisor, town clerk and four justices of the peace. Town business was conducted in homes and inns for decades.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" />

[[File:PostcardSandLakeNYChrisCrapesHotelCirca1910.jpg|thumb|Chris Crapes Hotel, about 1910]]
[[File:PostcardSandLakeNYStreetSceneCirca1910.jpg|thumb|Street scene, about 1910]]

There were a number of public and private schools established between 1825 and the early 20th century.<ref name="Schools" />{{efn|There were a number of public and private schools established between 1825 and into the early 20th century: Gregory's school (1825), Sliter's Corners (now in the hamlet of Sand Lake) school (1854), Sand Lake Academy, and a school at the Second Lutheran Church (1854). Between the 1860s and 1889 the Scram's Institute boarding school for boys (1852), Brookside Institute (1860s), Sand Lake Female Seminary (1880s), a private Day school was operated by Fannie Howard (1899), and Nellie Clark operated a private school (year not stated).<ref name="Schools">{{Cite web |title=SLHS: Town of Sand Lake (NY) Schools Prior to 1929 |url=https://sandlakehistory.org/schools.htm |access-date=April 14, 2021 |website=sandlakehistory.org}}</ref>}} A one-room schoolhouse operated in Sand Lake from 1895 until 1929.<ref name="HM of Sand Lake" />

In 1866, the Wynantskill Improvement Association created three Burden Lakes from Wynantskill Creek. The lake water turned the Burden water wheel that powered commercial enterprises, like mills, of the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref name="HM of Sand Lake" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sand Lake -- Mill Town? |url=https://sandlakehistory.org/mill.htm |access-date=April 14, 2021 |website=sandlakehistory.org}}</ref>

The [[Troy and New England Railway]] provided electric trolley service into Sand Lake from 1895 to 1925. The nine-mile route ran from Albia (of [[Troy, New York|Troy]]) east to [[Averill Park, New York|Averill Park]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 10, 1976 |title=Trolley subject of new book |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75715440/trolley-subject-of-new-book/ |access-date=April 14, 2021 |website=The Times Record |pages=7}}</ref> The town's economy grew with tourism and people who became residents during the summer.<ref name="Town of Sand Lake" />

[[Home rule in the United States|Municipal Home Rule Law]] was enacted in 1964 by the State Legislature, which gave towns greater powers. In 1968, Rensselaer County revised its form of government, replacing the Board of Supervisors with a County Executive and a County Legislature.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" /> In 1972, a town hall was established in the former Presbyterian Church.<ref name="History of Sand Lake" />

The [[Albert R. Fox House]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2001.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>