Schenectady

Formed January 1, 1809 (43^rd county)

Schenectady County (158,058), Schenectady (67,050)

A 1913 masonry Classical Revival building serves Schenectady County.  The structure is located on State Street between Veeder and Lafayette streets.  State Street is New York State Highway 5 in the town.  W. L. Stoddart provided the building designs.  Schenectady County was taken from Albany County on January 1, 1809 as the 43^rd county with Schenectady as the only county seat.  An 1833 version preceded the current one.  The county and county seat names are Native American for “the other side of the pine lands.”  Schenectady County was the birthplace for 1 New York Governor, Joseph C. Yates. 

Schenectady County government consists of a sheriff and 15 Legislators.  One County Court Judge, Three Family Court Judges, and One Surrogate Court Judge serve Schenectady County.  The county is in eastern New York.  Albany, New York is directly east of the county.  The county center is 3.6 miles Northwest of Schenectady in Scotia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Saratoga, Albany, Schoharie, and Montgomery counties. 

The area of the county is 210 square miles.  It is 56 out of 62 in the state.  It ranks 22 out of 62 in population in the state.  It has a density of 752.7 persons per square mile making it 10 out of 62 in the state.  Schenectady County has 47.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 88 originates in the county and goes southwest into Schoharie County.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses east to west from Albany County to Montgomery County.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 90 from Albany County to Schoharie County.  The county looks like a flat triangle.  The City of Schenectady is located southeast point of the county.  Schenectady is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 42.4% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced SKE-NEK-TA-DEE.  This county is in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area.