Editing Troy, New York (section)

=== The 1800s: Canals, shipping, early industrialization ===
The name Troy, after the legendary Greek city of [[Troy]] made famous in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]],'' was adopted in 1789, before which the tiny community had been known as Ashley's Ferry. The area was formed into the Town of Troy in 1791 from part of the [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck]]. The township included today's towns of [[Brunswick, New York|Brunswick]] and [[Grafton, New York|Grafton]]. Troy became a village in 1801 then was chartered as a city in 1816. In the post–Revolutionary War years, as Central New York was first settled, a strong trend to classical names existed, and Troy's naming fits the same pattern as the New York cities of Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Ithaca, and the towns of Sempronius and Manlius, and dozens of other similarly named towns to the west of Troy. Troy's Latin motto is ''Ilium fuit, Troja est'', which means "Ilium was, Troy is".{{efn|''Ilium fuit'' is the well-known expression from the ''[[Aeneid]]'', where it is the beginning of Parthus' reply to Aeneas. ''Aeneid'', Bk. II., 325. 30 153, and which had come to mean a complete and final end. The second half, ''Troja est'', is a defiant declaratory statement that nevertheless, Troy still lives.}}

Northern and Western New York was a theater of the [[War of 1812]], and militia and regular army forces were led by [[Stephen Van Rensselaer III|Stephen Van Rensselaer]] of Troy. Quartermaster supplies were shipped through Troy. A local butcher and meatpacker named [[Samuel Wilson]] supplied the military, and according to local lore, stamped the meat barrels "U.S." which alternately was interpreted as "United States" and "[[Uncle Sam]]," meaning Wilson. Troy has since claimed to be the historical home of Uncle Sam, who is buried in the historic Oakwood Cemetery located on the northern outskirts of the city and the burial site of numerous local luminaries. The iconic Uncle Sam caricature was created by political newspaper cartoonist [[Thomas Nast]].

On December 23, 1823, ''The Troy Sentinel'' newspaper was the first publisher of the world-famous Christmas poem "[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" or {{"'}}Twas the Night Before Christmas"). The poem was published anonymously. Its author has long been believed to have been [[Clement Clarke Moore]], but  now is regarded by some as having been [[Henry Livingston, Jr.|Henry Livingston Jr.]]

Scientific and technical proficiency was supported by the presence of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), one of the highest-ranked engineering schools in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=America's Best Colleges 2007|publisher=U.S. News|year=2006|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php|access-date=December 1, 2007}}</ref> RPI originally was sponsored by [[Stephen Van Rensselaer III|Stephen Van Rensselaer]], one of the most prominent members of that family of Dutch colonial origins. RPI was founded in 1824, and eventually absorbed the campus of the short-lived liberal arts-based [[Troy University (New York)|Troy University]], which closed in 1862 during the Civil War. Rensselaer founded RPI for the "application of science to the common purposes of life," and it is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world.<ref>{{cite web|title=RPI History Main Page |url=http://www.rpi.edu/about/history.html |access-date=January 21, 2007}}</ref> The institute is known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?catoid=4&navoid=76 |title=Rensselaer in Brief |year=2008 |access-date=May 22, 2008}}</ref>

====Financial success and flaming destruction====

Through much of the 19th and into the early 20th centuries, Troy was one of the most prosperous cities in the United States. Prior to its rise as an industrial center, it was the transshipment point for meat and vegetables from Vermont and New York, which were sent by the Hudson River to New York City. The trade was vastly increased after the construction of the [[Erie Canal]], with its eastern terminus directly across the Hudson River from Troy at [[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]] in 1825. Another artery constructed was the Champlain Canal. In 1916, Troy Federal Lock opened as one of the first modern locks along the present-day canal system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Champlain Canal Guide: Albany to Troy – Erie Canal, Oswego Canal and Champlain Canal Guide |url=https://www.nycanals.com/Champlain_Canal_Guide:_Albany_to_Troy |access-date=February 24, 2021 |publisher=www.nycanals.com}}</ref>

Troy has nearly been destroyed by fire three times. What was known as the [[Great Fire of Troy|Great Troy Fire of 1862]] burned down the W. & L. E. Gurley Company factory, which later that year was replaced by the new [[W. & L. E. Gurley Building]], now a [[National Historic Landmark]]: Gurley & Sons remains a worldwide leader in precision instrumentation to this day.

Troy's one-time great wealth was produced in the steel industry, with the first American [[Bessemer process|Bessemer converter]] erected on the Wynantskill Creek, a stream with falls in a small valley at the south end of the city.<ref>''A Resourceful People: A Pictorial History of Rensselaer County, New York''</ref> The industry first used charcoal and iron ore from the nearby Adirondack Mountains. Later, ore and coal from the Midwest were shipped via the [[Erie Canal]] to Troy and were processed before being sent down the Hudson River to New York City. The iron and steel also were used by the extensive federal arsenal located—as it is today—across the Hudson at [[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]], a community then called West Troy. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the steel production industry moved west to be closer to raw materials. The presence of iron and steel also made it possible for Troy to be an early site in the development of iron storefronts and steel structural supports in architecture, and some significant early examples remain in the city.

====Pioneering in the world of sports====

Troy was an early home of professional baseball and was the host of two major league teams. The first team to call Troy home was the [[Troy Haymakers]], a [[National Association of Professional Base Ball Players|National Association]] team operating  in 1871–72. One of its major players was [[Bill Craver|Williams H. Craver]], a Civil War veteran who was a noted catcher and also managed the team. Its last manager was [[Jimmy Wood]], recognized as the first Canadian to play professional baseball. The Troy Haymakers team folded, and the city subsequently had no team for seven seasons. Then, from 1879 to 1882, Troy rebounded as  home to the [[National League (baseball)|National League]]'s [[Troy Trojans (MLB team)|Troy Trojans]]. They not only were competitive in the league, they fielded a young [[Dan Brouthers]] who went on to become baseball's first great slugger.

Today's sports scene is quite different.The Tri-City ValleyCats, a minor league professional baseball team, calls the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium at Hudson Valley Community College home. The RPI Engineers are an NCAA Division III sports participant except in ice hockey where it plays at the Division I level and won various championships including the national title in 1954 and 1985.

The Hudson Valley CC Vikings participate in Region III of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and in the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference. Russell Sage College's Gators compete at the NCAA Division III level in numerous sports and in, among various conferences, the Empire 8 Conference.

====Politics, commerce and growth abound====

In 1892, poll watcher Robert Ross was shot dead and his brother was wounded by operatives of Mayor Edward Murphy, later a U.S. senator, after uncovering a man committing voter fraud. The convicted murderer, Bartholomew "Bat" Shea, was executed in 1896, although another man, John McGough, later admitted he had been the shooter.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rittner |first1=Don |title=Legendary Locals of Troy |date=2012 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4671-0007-6 |page=78}}</ref>

The initial emphasis on heavier industry later spawned a wide variety of highly engineered mechanical and scientific equipment. Troy was the home of [[Gurley Precision Instruments|W. & L. E. Gurley, Co.]], makers of precision instruments. Gurley's [[theodolite]]s were used to survey much of the American West after the Civil War and were highly regarded until laser and digital technology eclipsed the telescope and compass technology in the 1970s. Bells manufactured by Troy's [[Meneely Bell Foundry|Meneely Bell Company]] ring all over the world.  Troy also was home to a manufacturer of racing shells that used impregnated paper in a process that presaged the later use of fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon-fiber composites.

In 1900, Troy annexed Lansingburgh, a former town and village whose standing dates back prior to the War of Independence, in Rensselaer County. Lansingburgh is thus often referred to as "North Troy." However, prior to the annexation that portion of Troy north of Division Street was called North Troy and the neighborhood south of Washington Park was referred to as South Troy. To avoid confusion with streets in Troy following the annexation, Lansingburgh's numbered streets were renamed: its 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street, etc., became North Troy's 101st Street, 102nd Street, 103rd Street, etc. Lansingburgh was home to the [[Lansingburgh Academy]].

In the early 1900s, the [[New York Central Railroad]] was formed from earlier railroads and established its "Water Level Route" from New York City to Chicago, via Albany. A [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] [[Union Station (Troy, New York)|station]] was constructed {{Circa|1903}}. A short New York Central branch from Rensselaer connected at Troy. Also serving the station was the [[Boston and Maine Railroad]] to/from Boston and the [[Delaware and Hudson Railroad]] to/from Canada. The railroads quickly made obsolete the 1800s-constructed canals along the Mohawk. The former NYC operates today as [[CSX]] for freight service and [[Amtrak]] for passenger service, the latter operating from [[Albany–Rensselaer station]], directly opposite downtown Albany on the east side of the Hudson River. The end of rail passenger service to Troy occurred when the Boston and Maine dropped its Boston–Troy run in January 1958. The Troy Union Station was demolished in 1958.

[[File:Troy NY Union Depot pre1911img024.jpg|thumb|[[Union Station (Troy, New York)|Troy's Union Depot]] {{Circa|1900}}]]

In addition to the strong presence of the early American steel industry, Troy also was a manufacturing center for shirts, shirtwaists, detachable collars and cuffs. In 1825, local resident Hannah Lord Montague was tired of cleaning her blacksmith-husband's shirts. She cut off the collars of his shirts since only the collar was soiled, bound the edges and attached strings to hold the [[false collar]]s in place. This also allowed the collars and cuffs to be starched separately. Montague's idea caught on and changed the fashion for American men's dress for a century. Her patented collars and cuffs first were manufactured by Maullin & Blanchard, which eventually was absorbed by [[Cluett, Peabody & Company]]. Cluett's [[The Arrow Collar Man|Arrow brand]] shirts still are worn by men across the country.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arrowshirt.com/heritage.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325032714/http://www.arrowshirt.com/heritage.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 25, 2009 |title=Arrow Shirt|date=March 25, 2009|access-date=August 8, 2019}}</ref> The large labor force required by the shirt manufacturing industry also produced in 1864 the nation's first female [[labor union]], the [[Collar Laundry Union]], founded in Troy by [[Kate Mullany]]. On February 23, 1864, 300 members of the union went on strike. After six days, the laundry owners gave in to their demands and raised wages 25%. Further developments arose in the industry when, in 1933, Sanford Cluett invented a process he called [[Sanforization]], a process that shrinks [[cotton]] [[textile|fabrics]] thoroughly and permanently. Cluett, Peabody's last main plant in Troy, was closed in the 1980s, but the industrial output of the plant had long been transferred to facilities in the South.

In 1906, the city supplied itself with water from a 33-inch riveted-steel main from the [[Tomhannock Reservoir]]. A 30-inch cast-iron main was added in 1914.<ref name="Crowe">{{cite web |url=https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Troy-starts-40-million-water-main-project-to-16166397.php?IPID=Times-Union-HP-CP-Spotlight |title=Troy starts $40M project to replace lines to Tomhannock Reservoir |author=Kenneth C. Crowe II |work=Albany Times-Union |date=May 10, 2021|access-date=May 10, 2021}}</ref> In 2023, the city completed the first phase of installation of two 36-inch pipes totaling approximately 8 miles between the reservoir and the city's Water Treatment Plant as part of a multi-year project to fully replace the existing century-old transmission line.[https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/troy-water-project-supply-customers-250-years-17757466.php] The project began in 2021. [https://www.troyny.gov/257/Tomhannock-Water-Transmission-Line-Repla] [https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Troy-starts-40-million-water-main-project-to-16166397.php][https://www.wamc.org/capital-region-news/2021-05-13/troy-begins-40m-project-to-replace-tomhannock-reservoir-water-main-lines]

When the iron and steel industry moved westward to Pennsylvania around Pittsburgh to be closer to iron ore from Lake Erie and nearby coal and coke needed for the Bessemer process, and with a similar downturn in the collar industry, Troy's prosperity began to fade. After the passage of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], and given the strict control of [[Albany, New York|Albany]] by the O'Connell political machine, Troy became a way station for an [[Rum-running|illegal alcohol trade]] from Canada to New York City. Likewise, the stricter control of morality laws in the neighboring [[New England]] states encouraged the development of openly operating speakeasies and brothels in Troy. Gangsters such as "[[Legs Diamond]]" conducted their business in Troy, giving the city a somewhat colorful reputation through World War II. A few of the buildings from that era have since been converted into restaurants, such as the former Old Daly Inn.

[[Kurt Vonnegut]] lived in Troy and the area,{{Citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=Records generally indicate that Vonnegut lived in Alpaus, NY while working for General Electric before moving to Cape Cod in 1951}} and many of his novels include mentions of "Ilium" (an alternate name for Troy) or surrounding locations. Vonnegut wrote [[Player Piano (novel)|''Player Piano'']] in 1952, based on his experiences working as a [[public relations]] writer at nearby [[General Electric]]. His 1963 novel, ''[[Cat's Cradle (novel)|Cat's Cradle]]'', was written in the city and is set in Ilium. His recurring main character, Kilgore Trout, is a resident of [[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]], just across the Hudson River from Troy.