Albany

Albany, city, capital of New York State, United States, on the Hudson River. The city's economy is based on state government activities, but it is also a transport, banking, medical, and educational centre. The city serves as a gateway to resort areas in the nearby Catskill, Adirondack, and Berkshire mountains. It is also the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal, now primarily a recreational waterway. Among Albany's points of interest are the home of Philip Schuyler (1762), general of the American War of Independence; the State Capitol (1867-1898); and the Old Dutch Church (1839). Institutions of higher education in Albany include the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany (1844), Albany Law School (1851), Albany College of Pharmacy (1881), Albany Medical School (1839), and the College of St Rose. Government activities are concentrated at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza. The city has an orchestra, ballet company, and numerous theatres.

Native Americans of the Mahican tribe lived in what is now the Albany area before white settlement. Visited in 1609 by the English navigator Henry Hudson during his exploration of the river that was later named after him, the city was settled by Europeans in 1614 with the establishment of Fort Nassau, a Dutch trading post. In 1624 a group of Walloons built Fort Orange, which, in 1629, became the permanent settlement of Beverwyck. Following the surrender of Fort Orange to the British in 1664, the city's name was changed to honour the Duke of York and Albany (later James II).

Albany's reputation as the Cradle of the Union resulted from the meeting here in 1754 of the Albany Congress, which adopted Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union, a forerunner of the Constitution of the United States. The city was chosen as the permanent state capital in 1797. Its subsequent commercial development was spurred by the completion of the Champlain Canal (1822), Erie Canal (1825), and Mohawk and Hudson Railroad (1831), the first steam railway in the United States. In the 1930s port facilities were improved and a deep-water channel was dredged, allowing ocean-going vessels to dock at the city. Albany’s economy declined in the mid-20th century but was revived by the construction of major government facilities beginning in the 1960s. Population 93,963 (2006).