Amsterdam

History

Prior to settlement by Europeans, the region which includes Amsterdam was inhabited for centuries by the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy, which dominated most of the Mohawk Valley. They had pushed the Algonquin Mohican tribe to the east of the Hudson River. Dutch settlers began to arrive in the area in the 1660s, founding Schenectady in 1664. They had previously been based in Albany, along the Hudson River to the east. They reached what would later be Amsterdam c.1710. They called the community "Veeders Mills" and "Veedersburgh" after Albert Veeder, an early mill owner. By the second decade of the 1700s, Scotch-Irish and German Palatinate immigrants began to arrive in the Mohawk Valley region, but few settled in Amsterdam. The governor of the colony granted a group of 100 Palatine German households land in the area that developed as Little Falls to the west, where the English planned they could serve as a buffer to French and Native American incursions. The American Revolutionary War had little effect on the Amsterdam region. No major battles were fought there or in the surrounding region. The Battle of Johnstown was essentially the repelling of a raid by British forces and their Native American, mostly Iroquois, allies. Amsterdam grew slowly after the war, primarily providing the services needed for the farming communities which surrounded it. When the Town of Amsterdam was created, the city changed its name to Amsterdam in 1803, possibly to encourage its selection as the seat of the town's government.

Geography

Amsterdam is in eastern Montgomery County, northwest of Schenectady and northwest of Albany, the state capital. It is bordered to the north and east by the town of Amsterdam and to the south and west by the town of Florida. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 6.18%, are water. The Mohawk River passes through the city south of the downtown area, with the Erie Canal part of the river. North Chuctanunda Creek and South Chuctanunda Creek flow into the Mohawk at Amsterdam. New York State Route 30, a north-south highway called Market Street in part, crosses the Mohawk River to link the main part of Amsterdam to the New York State Thruway. NY-30 leads north to Mayfield and on into the Adirondacks, and south to Schoharie and thence into the Catskills. NY-30 intersects east-west highways 5 and 67 in the city. NY-5 leads southeast to Schenectady and Albany and west to Utica, while NY-67 leads east to Ballston Spa. New York State Route 5S passes along the south side of the Mohawk River. Amsterdam is currently within New York's 20th congressional district.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• AMSTERDAM HIGH SCHOOL
  High · AMSTERDAM · 1,179 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• WILBUR H LYNCH LITERACY ACADEMY
  Middle · AMSTERDAM · 817 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• FONDA-FULTONVILLE K-4 SCHOOL
  Elementary · FONDA · 525 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• HAMILTON-FULTON-MONTGOMERY BOCES
  Other · JOHNSTOWN · 489 students · 6.4:1 ratio
• WILLIAM B TECLER ARTS IN EDUCATION
  Elementary · AMSTERDAM · 461 students · 18.4:1 ratio
• RAPHAEL J MCNULTY ACADEMY FOR INTERN STUDIES & LITERACY
  Elementary · AMSTERDAM · 447 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• MARIE CURIE INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND COMMUNICATION
  Elementary · AMSTERDAM · 443 students · 19.3:1 ratio
• FONDA-FULTONVILLE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · FONDA · 389 students · 11.8:1 ratio