Editing Albany, New York (section)

===British rule to 1800===
Albany is one of the [[List of North American settlements by year of foundation|oldest surviving European settlements]] from the original [[Thirteen Colonies]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Larnard, J.N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTcFAAAAIAAJ&q=french%20fort%201540%20albany&pg=PA195|title=The New Larned History for Ready Reference and Research|publisher=C.A. Nichols Publishing Company|year=1922|editor=Donald E. Smith|volume=I (A-Bak)|page=195}}</ref> and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States.{{efn|The ''Dongan Charter'' incorporated Albany three months after New York City's charter was ratified. However, the latter forfeited its charter during [[Leisler's Rebellion]], making Albany's the oldest effective charter in the country.<ref name=Thacher>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MrwZAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA137|title=Proceedings of the Conference for Good City Government and the Annual ...|last1=League|first1=National Municipal|year=1896}}</ref><ref name = whish5>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqCeHOJyK0wC&pg=PA5|title=Albany Guide Book|year=1917|last1=Whish|first1=John D.}}</ref>|group=Note}} When [[New Netherland]] was captured by the [[Kingdom of England|English]] in 1664, the name was changed from ''Beverwijck'' to ''Albany'' in honor of the [[Duke of Albany]] (later James II).<ref name="brodhead744">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historystatenew02brodgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/historystatenew02brodgoog/page/n772 744]|title=History of the State of New York|publisher=Harper & Brothers|last1=Brodhead|first1=John Romeyn|year=1874}}</ref>{{efn|[[James II of England|James Stuart]] (1633–1701), brother and successor of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], was both the [[Duke of York]] and [[Duke of Albany]] before being crowned king in 1685. His title of Duke of York is the source of the name of the [[province of New York]].<ref name=brodhead744/>|group=Note}} Duke of Albany was a [[Peerage of Scotland|Scottish title]] given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the [[List of Scottish monarchs|King of Scots]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Albany, Dukes of |volume= 1 | pages = 487–489, line two|quote=The title of duke of Albany was first bestowed in 1398....}}</ref> The name is ultimately derived from ''[[Alba]]'', the [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] name for Scotland.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Historie of Scotland |last=Leslie |first=Jhone |translator=James Dalrymple |editor=E.G. Cody |publisher=William Blackwood and Sons |year=1888 |page=354 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=3217086 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56RHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA354}}</ref> The Dutch briefly regained Albany in August 1673 and renamed the city ''Willemstadt''; the English took permanent possession in 1674 with the [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Treaty of Westminster]].<ref name="reynolds72">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNU0AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA72|title=Albany Chronicles|year=1906}}</ref> On November 1, 1683, the [[Province of New York]] was split into counties, with [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]] being the largest: it included all of present New York State north of [[Dutchess County, New York|Dutchess]] and [[Ulster County, New York|Ulster]] Counties in addition to present-day [[Bennington County, Vermont|Bennington County]], Vermont, theoretically stretching west to the Pacific Ocean;<ref name="NYATLAS">Thorne, Kathryn Ford, Compiler & Long, John H., Editor: ''New York Atlas of Historical County Boundaries''; The Newbury Library; 1993.</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=[[:File:A Map of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, with a part of Pennsylvania and the Province of Quebec. LOC 74692641 (cropped).jpg|A Map of the Provinces of New-York and New-Jersey, with a Part of Pennsylvania and the Province of Quebec]] |publisher=Matthew Albert Lotter |cartography=[[Claude Joseph Sauthier]] |scale=ca. 1:1,040,000 |year=1777}}</ref> Albany became the [[county seat]].<ref name="french155">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_R_zHwh4xByQC|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_R_zHwh4xByQC/page/n161 155]|title=Gazetteer of the State of New York|publisher=R. Pearsall Smith|last1=French|first1=John Homer|year=1860}}</ref> Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by [[Province of New York|provincial Governor]] [[Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick|Thomas Dongan]] on July 22, 1686. The [[Dongan Charter]] was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier.<ref name="Charter">{{cite web |title = The Dongan Charter |publisher = New York State Museum |access-date = November 23, 2008 |url = http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/charter.html |archive-date = October 12, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081012114158/http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/charter.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> Dongan created Albany as a strip of land {{convert|1|mi|km}} wide and {{convert|16|mi|km}} long.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNU0AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA84|title=Albany Chronicles|year=1906}}</ref> Over the years Albany would lose much of the land to the west and [[Municipal annexation|annex]] land to the north and south. At this point, Albany had a population of about 500 people.<ref name="pop" />