Online Exhibitions:

People and Place: Landscape and Land Use in Rensselaer County

We all react, consciously and unconsciously, to the places where we live and work, in ways we scarcely notice or that are only now becoming known to us....Our relationship with the places we know and meet up with is a close bond, intricate in nature, and not abstract, not remote at all.

- Tony Hiss, author, The Experience of Place

The exhibition takes a chronological look at the "close bond" between the people and places of Rensselaer County, from 17th century European contact with the Mohicans, to the suburbanized, drive-through late 20th century. How and why has Rensselaer County develop as it has? What natural and man-made forces have shaped development? What decisions are we making now that could have far-reaching effects well into the next century?

In the 19th century, author Washington Irving wrote, "If the Garden of Eden were now on earth, they would not hesitate to run a railroad through it." Our desire as a society to dominate the natural environment and shape it to our needs is just as strong as it was in Irving's time. Land use issues today can be highly divisive. What is at stake that makes them so emotionally charged? Are we destined to repeat the failures, or can we learn from the successes, of preceding generations?

1609 - 1816

The first two hundred years after Henry Hudson and his crew sailed the Half Moon up the river that today bears Hudson's name are often lumped together in histories and passed over quickly by museum-goers. There are often only tiny bits of tangible evidence left in the world around us and in the collections of museums to illustrate this period of time, unlike the 19th and 20th century which still surrounds us.

Even before the first Europeans came to this area the land was being shaped by the native inhabitants. Their lives in turn were impacted by the way the rivers and streams cut through the mountainous eastern part of what became Rensselaer County and by the rich soils along the river flats and the forests that covered much of the area.

This section of the exhibit will examine some of the ways that two very different cultures initially made contact and what the effect of settlement was on the land and on the peoples who lived here. This section ends with the community of Troy having become a city in 1816, a change that had an impact on the surrounding county as well. It is interesting that many of the issues and trends we deal with today can be seen in this earlier time.

1816-1900

The changes that took place in Rensselaer County in the 19th century had profound effects on the landscape. Rensselaer County enjoyed being one of the leading producers of livestock, orchard and dairy products, lumber and iron in New York State. Schaghticoke's powder mills, Sand Lake's glass factory, and Walter Wood's agricultural equipment business in Hoosick Falls were but a few of the industries that relied on water power from the abundant streams and rivers that ran through the County. The cities of Troy and Rensselaer were centers for shipping these products to the urban areas of New York, Chicago and Boston and beyond.

The growth and development of these industries had a direct effect on the landscape of the county. The large labor force needed to work the factories and farms fostered the growth of the towns and cities in Rensselaer County. Rapid population increases created inherent problems for rural and urban residents alike. How they solved these problems created a lasting effect upon the landscape of Rensselaer County.

1892-1945

The early 20th century was an era of profound changes and contrasts. An expanding industrial economy was driven primarily by profit, with little regard for workers or surrounding environments. At the same time, efforts to reform the workplace and society in general were afoot. Legislation abolishing abusive labor practices, and promoting child welfare and education, wildlife protection and reforestation, city planning and subdivision control all were created during this period.

By 1915, we moved about on, inhabited and continually manipulated a physical landscape that was transformed in scale and size. Bigness was everywhere, in bridges, railroad stations, department stores and traction systems. While construction of the Panama Canal symbolized the ability of American engineers to conquer natural environments in far-flung corners of the globe, local efforts to widen and deepen the Hudson River, dam Rensselaer County's rivers and lakes, and expand its transportation networks were planned and implemented with equal intrepidity.

In Rensselaer County, as elsewhere, the movement to the suburbs, coupled with extensive planning for the cities of Troy (beginning as early as 1892) and Rensselaer, took hold and accelerated in the first thirty years of the new century, only to be cut short by the crash of 1929 and the Depression which followed.

1945 - Present

Rensselaer County holds an important position in the Hudson Valley and should continue to strengthen this position in the future. With the establishment of new industry and the sophistication of State Government, new jobs will be established. The completion of the Interstate Highway System will bring about increased development. As our population increases, new dwelling units, shopping centers and office buildings will be constructed. The population will seek suburban living in the County's towns and villages. It is only through comprehensive planning both privately and publicly, [that the County] will be guided toward a more healthy and desirable environment physically, socially, economically, and culturally for the good of all.

- Natural and Cultural Features Survey,
Rensselaer County Planning Board, 1968

This 1968 assessment of the future was on target with predictions for growth and construction. Post-war United States began to turn its attention to cities blighted by relocated industry and population. Federal and state funding for urban renewal and highway construction has played a significant role in re-shaping our urban centers and transportation routes through rural areas. The effects of transportation improvements in the 20th century mirror those of the early 1800s -- an expanded roadway system and the extension of public services brought an influx of residential and commercial development in new areas. Today, the existence of new highways like I-90, Route 787, and Alternate Route 7 allows us to work, shop and play farther away from home than was formerly possible.

The era of "big government" beginning in the 1960s introduced a larger number of government offices involved in planning and management activities on the federal, state and local levels. Municipalities and towns around the county developed land use controls and appointed local residents to planning and zoning boards. Citizen participation in planning and development issues has increased over the last 35 years, often in response to government actions.

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