#DidYouKnow...?

This month in Rensselaer County History!

#DidYouKnow…

April 1609: Henry Hudson sets out from Amsterdam on the ship the Halve Maen, working for the Dutch East India Company. He will voyage up the river called the Mahicantuck by the Mohican peoples of the region. It’s now known as the Hudson River. Hudson travels as far as present-day Troy in September 1609, but has to turn around when the water becomes too shallow for his boat.

Visit the Carriage House at the Hart Cluett Museum to see a model of the Halve Maen on display!

April 4, 1832: Legislature passes an act to incorporate the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Company. Richard P. Hart (original resident of the Hart-Cluett House) is one of the first directors of the company. The company was designed as a retaliatory company to the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad that created a road from Schenectady to Saratoga to cut Troy off from the trade of Northern NY. In 1933 the construction began. On Oct. 6, 1835 the first passenger train crossed the bridge between Troy and Green Island.

April 7, 1848: New York State passes the Married Women’s Property Act. Married women are now allowed, by law, to own and control their own property.

April 19, 1833: Troy City Bank is incorporated. Richard P. Hart is part of the directors and chosen as president from July 10, 1833 – December 28, 1943. The building was burned in the Great Fire on May 10, 1862 but the contents of the vault is safe.

April 23, 1823: The act incorporating the Troy Savings Bank passes. The bank is created for the common people (tradesmen, mechanics, laborers, minors, servants, etc.) of Troy. Richard P. Hart is named as one of the first managers of the institution as well as the first vice president. He will later go on to become president. The bank would move into its famous home on March 25, 1875 at 30 Second Street (now the home of Troy Music Hall!). Martha Jefferson, a Black woman was the first depositor of the bank with $20.