From Schaghticoke’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Schaghticoke began, and where its name came from
When was Schaghticoke founded?
1804
The Schaghticoke post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hart's Falls (1868) and Reynolds (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,833 in 17902020 census: 7,445222 years
How did Schaghticoke get its name?
Schaghticoke was named for the Schaghticoke, a Native American tribe formed in the seventeenth century from an amalgamation of remnant peoples of eastern New York and New England.
How historic is Schaghticoke?
B+
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Schaghticoke is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #546 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Schaghticoke’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Schaghticoke’s 1.4 sits below most of its state (23% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Schaghticoke’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Schaghticoke’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Schaghticoke’s post office has been open since 1804. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Schaghticoke
1804–today
Hart's Falls
1868–1882
Melrose
1875–today
Reynolds
1880–1905
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Grant HollowHemstreet ParkMelrosePleasantdaleReynoldsSchaghticoke HillSpeigletown
Gone or out of use
Burrello-Mechanicville AirportairportHudson River Drive-InlocaleLansingburgh Central SchoolschoolPublic School Number 4schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 13schoolSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Schaghticoke
BrookinsElmwoodSaint Johns
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
This area was historically occupied by the Mohican tribe, and later by a mixed group of Mohicans, and remnants of numerous New England tribes who had migrated west seeking to escape European encroachment.
In 1675, Governor Andros, governor of the colony of New York, planted a tree of Welfare near the junction of the Hoosic River and Tomhannock Creek, an area already known as Schaghticoke, "the place where the waters mingle." This tree symbolized the friendship between the English and the Dutch, and the Schaghticoke Indians. The Native Inhabitants were Mohican refugees from New England welcomed to Schaghticoke because they agreed to help protect the English from the French and the Iroquois. They stayed until 1754.
Passages that mention Schaghticoke, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Troy and Rensselaer county, New York1925 · page 590Read the page →
Read the text
October, 1924. With the advent of the automobile bus an additional system of suburban transportation has been developed, lines of busses running from Troy to Grafton and Berlin, Poestenkill, Schaghticoke, Hoosick Falls, Cambridge and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and from Averill Park to Albany. The Troy Fifth Avenue Bus Company, operating from the business center of the city northward along Fifth and Sixth avenues to One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street began operations May 16, 1915.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Schaghticoke, 1804 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Schaghticoke. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Cohoes sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Schaghticoke.
Every building
Schaghticoke, building by building, 1884–1911
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The Schaghticoke post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Schaghticoke rank for history?
Schaghticoke is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #546 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Schaghticoke?
One place: the Knickerbocker Mansion (listed 1972).
How old are the homes in Schaghticoke?
19% of Schaghticoke’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1971.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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