Stockade Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Stockade Historic District is located in the northwest corner of Schenectady
, New York, United States, on the banks of the Mohawk River
. It is the oldest neighborhood in the city, continuously inhabited for over 300 years. Union College first held classes in a building within the district, and later it would be one of the termini of an early suspension bridge
that was, at the time, the longest in North America. Elizabeth Gillette, a physician and the first woman from upstate New York
elected to the New York State Assembly
, lived in the Stockade as well.
It contains a wide variety of Dutch and English 17th and 18th century buildings, many with later embellishments and additions. The National Park Service
has described it as "the highest concentration of historic period homes in the country," with over 40 older than 200 years. The Stockade was New York's first local historic district, when it was recognized by the city council in 1962.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1973 and its boundaries were increased slightly in 1984. The city and an active neighborhood association
, the first founded in Schenectady, work to protect its historic character.
tracks, now used by Amtrak
and CSX, on the east. Its southern boundary is mostly defined by the rear line of properties on the south side of Union Street, except for Washington Street, where the entire street is included all the way to State Street (NY 5
), and a section of Church Street added by the boundary increase.
On its southeast corner it borders the Union Street Historic District
, providing a historic corridor which links it to Union College and the city's other two historic districts, the GE Realty Plot and Union Triangle. Residential and industrial areas are located to the east across the tracks. To the south is the western section of downtown Schenectady. Riverside Park (parkland) is located at the shore of the river, (northwest side). The village of Scotia
is located directly across the river.
The district is largely flat, reflecting the nearby river. It is densely developed, mostly with small two-story attached houses. It is centered on the intersection of Ferry, Front and Green streets, where a circular plaza is built around a statue of Lawrence the Indian, a[Mohawk]] who helped restore the settlement after an early catastrophe.
, mostly merchants and fur traders looking to do business with Native Americans
, settled the banks of the Mohawk in an area between the present Ferry, Front and State streets and Washington Avenue in 1661. This group of twelve houses surrounded by a wooden stockade
, 200 Dutch feet (about 187 feet, or 56.6 m) on a side is considered the founding of the city of Schenectady. After the 1674 Treaty of Westminster
ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War
the settlement, like all established by the Dutch in New Netherland
, came under British
control as part of the Province of New York
.
The small frontier settlement was almost wiped out in 1690 during King William's War
, the first in the series of conflicts known as the French and Indian Wars
. French troops and their Algonquin and Sault
allies, retaliating for a series of British-backed Iroquois
raids on their territory, were on their way to an assault on Fort Orange at present-day Albany
when their scouts found that Schenectady's stockade was almost minimally staffed, and changed their plans to attack this target of opportunity.
In the course of the ensuing Schenectady massacre
, many of the houses and barns were burned and most of the inhabitants of the village either killed or taken to Montreal
as prisoners. Local members of the Mohawk
tribe, in particular one who had become known among the settlers as Lawrence, encouraged the Dutch to rebuild.
By 1692 the community had been rebuilt and repopulated with a mixture of English, Scottish and Dutch settlers. The stockade was rebuilt and by 1704 took in College Street on the east and Cowhorn Creek on the south. The French and Indian Wars continued into the next century, ending in 1763, by which time the stockade had been extended to the river on the north. The costs of retaining control over the North American colonies eventually led Parliament
to consider different taxes on the colonial economy to pay the mounting costs. These in turn led to discontent in the colonies, and one of the first "Liberty
!" protest flags over the Stamp Act 1765
was raised over the Dutch Reformed Church then at the corner of Church and Union streets (it is now in the Schenectady Historical Society building on Washington Street).
During the Revolutionary War
Schenectady served as headquarters for several of the local Committees of Safety
. George Washington
visited the area at least three times, due to its strategic importance. After independence, the stockade, which had begun to deteriorate from neglect during the war, was dismantled. Only some of the footings remain, mostly buried. The village continued to grow as the main point of departure for travel to the west. Buildings and wharves
along the riverfront and the Binne Kill accommodated the travelers and cargo that came overland from Albany and boarded bateau
x for the trip west to Lake Erie
.
Theodore Burr
, cousin of Aaron
, having built one of the first significant crossings of the Hudson River
at Waterford, turned his attentions to the Mohawk. He decided to build a wooden suspension bridge
, using planks of local timber as the cables. A triple span across the 800 feet (243.8 m) of river between Washington Street and Scotia was completed in early 1808, but then washed away. Burr added a fourth span, and this time the bridge stood up to the river.
The Revolution had led citizens to demand services a nation could provide, among them higher education
. Union College was established in 1779, before the war had even ended, but was not formally recognized with a state charter (the first issued by the state Board of Regents) until 1795. Its first building was in the district, at the corner of Ferry and Union streets, later College and Union. It was America's first non-denominational college. In 1814 the college moved to its present location, the first planned college campus in the country.
In 1819 a fire destroyed two hundred buildings in this area. Six years later, during the rebuilding, the Erie Canal
was completed, and most activity moved west to the vicinity of State Street, outside of the district, sparing the residential properties that make up the bulk of today's Stockade. As Schenectady began to grow due to industrialization, it grew eastward along Union Street (the main road to Troy
and Watervliet
at the time) and the canal, as the American Locomotive Company
and General Electric
made it "The City that Hauls and Lights the World".
, the first woman elected to the state legislature from upstate
and the only Democrat
ever elected to that body from Schenectady's second district. She served a single term and returned to medicine, retiring in 1960.
Theodore Burr's bridge burned down in 1909 and was replaced with the first of the current bridges nearby that carry Route 5 to Scotia. One of the original stone abutment
s can be seen where Washington Street reaches the river. When the Erie Canal was finally replaced by the New York State Barge Canal, portions were reused for the railroad bridge.
By the mid-20th century, the neighborhood had gone into noticeable decline
, and some of its buildings, such as the original Surrogate's Court
building, were demolished
. Residents who had become aware of its historic importance formed the Stockade Association in 1957 and, five years later, successfully lobbied the city to pass a zoning
ordinance
creating the historic district
, the first one created in the state.
regulations, any change to a historic building in a district that is visible from a public right-of-way must be approved by the commission.
Within the neighborhood, the Historic Stockade Association works to organize
residents and help preserve not only the historic nature of the neighborhood but its sense of community. It publishes and distributes a newsletter, The Stockade Spy and organizes tours and other special events in the neighborhood. Some other special events in the neighborhood are informal, such as the sing-along
to the pink flamingos
that a person or persons unknown has been placing in front of the statue of Lawrence every Valentine's Day
for the last decade.
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
, New York, United States, on the banks of the Mohawk River
Mohawk River
The Mohawk River is a river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in the Capital District, a few miles north of the city of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy...
. It is the oldest neighborhood in the city, continuously inhabited for over 300 years. Union College first held classes in a building within the district, and later it would be one of the termini of an early suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
that was, at the time, the longest in North America. Elizabeth Gillette, a physician and the first woman from upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
elected to the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
, lived in the Stockade as well.
It contains a wide variety of Dutch and English 17th and 18th century buildings, many with later embellishments and additions. The National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
has described it as "the highest concentration of historic period homes in the country," with over 40 older than 200 years. The Stockade was New York's first local historic district, when it was recognized by the city council in 1962.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1973 and its boundaries were increased slightly in 1984. The city and an active neighborhood association
Neighborhood association
A neighborhood association is a group of residents or property owners who advocate for or organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues....
, the first founded in Schenectady, work to protect its historic character.
Geography
The Stockade District is a roughly wedge-shaped area at Schenectady's northwest corner, 82 acres (33.2 ha) in area. It is bounded by the Mohawk on the north, the Binne Kill on the west and the former New York Central RailroadNew York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
tracks, now used by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and CSX, on the east. Its southern boundary is mostly defined by the rear line of properties on the south side of Union Street, except for Washington Street, where the entire street is included all the way to State Street (NY 5
New York State Route 5
New York State Route 5 is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and several other smaller cities and...
), and a section of Church Street added by the boundary increase.
On its southeast corner it borders the Union Street Historic District
Union Street Historic District (Schenectady, New York)
The Union Street Historic District extends along a section of that street in Schenectady, New York, United States. Covering roughly two miles of both sides of the street, it includes 184 buildings in its ....
, providing a historic corridor which links it to Union College and the city's other two historic districts, the GE Realty Plot and Union Triangle. Residential and industrial areas are located to the east across the tracks. To the south is the western section of downtown Schenectady. Riverside Park (parkland) is located at the shore of the river, (northwest side). The village of Scotia
Scotia, New York
Scotia is a village in Schenectady County, New York, United States, incorporated in 1904. The population was 7,957 at the 2000 census.The Village of Scotia is part of the Town of Glenville, partly contiguous with Schenectady, New York and is connected by the Western Gateway Bridge over the Mohawk...
is located directly across the river.
The district is largely flat, reflecting the nearby river. It is densely developed, mostly with small two-story attached houses. It is centered on the intersection of Ferry, Front and Green streets, where a circular plaza is built around a statue of Lawrence the Indian, a[Mohawk]] who helped restore the settlement after an early catastrophe.
History
For the colonial period and afterwards, the history of the Stockade District is synonymous with the history of Schenectady. Later, as the city industrialized and grew far beyond it, the district retained a distinct identity and sense of community within itself.17th and 18th centuries
A group of Dutch settlersDutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
, mostly merchants and fur traders looking to do business with Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, settled the banks of the Mohawk in an area between the present Ferry, Front and State streets and Washington Avenue in 1661. This group of twelve houses surrounded by a wooden stockade
Stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
, 200 Dutch feet (about 187 feet, or 56.6 m) on a side is considered the founding of the city of Schenectady. After the 1674 Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Westminster (1674)
The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Netherlands and England, it provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland to England and renewed the Treaty of Breda of 1667...
ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War...
the settlement, like all established by the Dutch in New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
, came under British
British colonization of the Americas
British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
control as part of the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
.
The small frontier settlement was almost wiped out in 1690 during King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
, the first in the series of conflicts known as the French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
. French troops and their Algonquin and Sault
Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan, commonly shortened to Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians or the more colloquial Sault Tribe, is an indigenous community located in what is now known as Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The tribal headquarters is located within the major city in...
allies, retaliating for a series of British-backed Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
raids on their territory, were on their way to an assault on Fort Orange at present-day Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
when their scouts found that Schenectady's stockade was almost minimally staffed, and changed their plans to attack this target of opportunity.
In the course of the ensuing Schenectady massacre
Schenectady massacre
The Schenectady Massacre was a Canadien attack against the village of Schenectady in the colony of New York on 8 February 1690. A party of more than 200 Canadiens and allied Mohawk nation, Sault and Algonquin warriors attacked the unguarded community, destroying most of the homes, and killing or...
, many of the houses and barns were burned and most of the inhabitants of the village either killed or taken to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
as prisoners. Local members of the Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
tribe, in particular one who had become known among the settlers as Lawrence, encouraged the Dutch to rebuild.
By 1692 the community had been rebuilt and repopulated with a mixture of English, Scottish and Dutch settlers. The stockade was rebuilt and by 1704 took in College Street on the east and Cowhorn Creek on the south. The French and Indian Wars continued into the next century, ending in 1763, by which time the stockade had been extended to the river on the north. The costs of retaining control over the North American colonies eventually led Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
to consider different taxes on the colonial economy to pay the mounting costs. These in turn led to discontent in the colonies, and one of the first "Liberty
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
!" protest flags over the Stamp Act 1765
Stamp Act 1765
The Stamp Act 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp...
was raised over the Dutch Reformed Church then at the corner of Church and Union streets (it is now in the Schenectady Historical Society building on Washington Street).
During the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
Schenectady served as headquarters for several of the local Committees of Safety
Committee of Safety (American Revolution)
Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...
. George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
visited the area at least three times, due to its strategic importance. After independence, the stockade, which had begun to deteriorate from neglect during the war, was dismantled. Only some of the footings remain, mostly buried. The village continued to grow as the main point of departure for travel to the west. Buildings and wharves
Wharf
A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...
along the riverfront and the Binne Kill accommodated the travelers and cargo that came overland from Albany and boarded bateau
Bateau
A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes...
x for the trip west to Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
.
19th century
In the early 19th century engineerCivil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
Theodore Burr
Theodore Burr
Theodore Burr was an inventor from Torringford, Connecticut, who was credited with the Burr Arch Truss bridge design and was cousin of vice president Aaron Burr. Theodore Burr came to Oxford, New York in 1792. By 1794, he had built a grist mill , and a dam to power the mill...
, cousin of Aaron
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
, having built one of the first significant crossings of the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
at Waterford, turned his attentions to the Mohawk. He decided to build a wooden suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
, using planks of local timber as the cables. A triple span across the 800 feet (243.8 m) of river between Washington Street and Scotia was completed in early 1808, but then washed away. Burr added a fourth span, and this time the bridge stood up to the river.
The Revolution had led citizens to demand services a nation could provide, among them higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
. Union College was established in 1779, before the war had even ended, but was not formally recognized with a state charter (the first issued by the state Board of Regents) until 1795. Its first building was in the district, at the corner of Ferry and Union streets, later College and Union. It was America's first non-denominational college. In 1814 the college moved to its present location, the first planned college campus in the country.
In 1819 a fire destroyed two hundred buildings in this area. Six years later, during the rebuilding, the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
was completed, and most activity moved west to the vicinity of State Street, outside of the district, sparing the residential properties that make up the bulk of today's Stockade. As Schenectady began to grow due to industrialization, it grew eastward along Union Street (the main road to Troy
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
and Watervliet
Watervliet, New York
Watervliet is a city in Albany County in the US state of New York. The population was 10,254 as of the 2010 census. Watervliet is north of Albany, the capital of the state, and is bordered on the north, west, and south by the town of Colonie. The city is also known as "the Arsenal City".- History...
at the time) and the canal, as the American Locomotive Company
American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
and General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
made it "The City that Hauls and Lights the World".
20th century
Connecticut native Elizabeth Gillette moved to Union Street to start her medical practice in 1900. Two decades later, she was elected to the state assemblyNew York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
, the first woman elected to the state legislature from upstate
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
and the only Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
ever elected to that body from Schenectady's second district. She served a single term and returned to medicine, retiring in 1960.
Theodore Burr's bridge burned down in 1909 and was replaced with the first of the current bridges nearby that carry Route 5 to Scotia. One of the original stone abutment
Abutment
An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...
s can be seen where Washington Street reaches the river. When the Erie Canal was finally replaced by the New York State Barge Canal, portions were reused for the railroad bridge.
By the mid-20th century, the neighborhood had gone into noticeable decline
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
, and some of its buildings, such as the original Surrogate's Court
New York Surrogate's Court
The Surrogate's Court handles all probate and estate proceedings in the state of New York. All wills are probated in this court and all estates of people who die without a will are handled in this court...
building, were demolished
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
. Residents who had become aware of its historic importance formed the Stockade Association in 1957 and, five years later, successfully lobbied the city to pass a zoning
Zoning in the United States
Zoning in the United States comprise land use state laws falling under the police power rights that State governments and local governments have the authority to exercise over privately owned real property.-Origins and history:...
ordinance
Local ordinance
A local ordinance is a law usually found in a municipal code.-United States:In the United States, these laws are enforced locally in addition to state law and federal law.-Japan:...
creating the historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
, the first one created in the state.
Preservation
The neighborhood is one of four historic districts recognized by the city of Schenectady. It comes under the purview of its Historic Commission, a seven-member body that meets once a month. Under the city's zoningZoning in the United States
Zoning in the United States comprise land use state laws falling under the police power rights that State governments and local governments have the authority to exercise over privately owned real property.-Origins and history:...
regulations, any change to a historic building in a district that is visible from a public right-of-way must be approved by the commission.
Within the neighborhood, the Historic Stockade Association works to organize
Community organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...
residents and help preserve not only the historic nature of the neighborhood but its sense of community. It publishes and distributes a newsletter, The Stockade Spy and organizes tours and other special events in the neighborhood. Some other special events in the neighborhood are informal, such as the sing-along
Sing-along
Sing-along, community singing, group singing, is an event of singing together at gatherings or parties, less formally than choir singing. One can use a songbook. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, hymns and drinking songs...
to the pink flamingos
Plastic flamingo
Pink plastic flamingos are one of the most famous of lawn ornaments in the United States, along with the garden gnome and other such ornamentation....
that a person or persons unknown has been placing in front of the statue of Lawrence every Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
for the last decade.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Schenectady County, New York
- Woodlawn, Schenectady, New YorkWoodlawn, Schenectady, New YorkWoodlawn is a neighborhood of Schenectady, New York and occupies the entire southeastern section of that city. The neighborhood developed as a suburb of the city of Schenectady in the first two decades of the 20th century and was annexed to the city in 1923...
External links
- Stockade Association website
- Walls Have Ears, online e-bookE-bookAn electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
about the neighborhood published by the Stockade Association