Amsterdam (city), New York
Amsterdam is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 18,620. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The City of Amsterdam is surrounded on the northern, eastern and western sides by the town of Amsterdam. The city developed on both sides of the Mohawk River, with the majority located on the north bank. The Port Jackson area on the south side is also part of the city. 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 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, New York 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. It was located in the now-defunct Town of Caughnawaga. 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. After the War, Loyalists such as the powerful Johnson family fled to Canada. Sir William Johnson had long been the British agent of Indian Affairs for this region. Many new land-hungry settlers came from New England as the state sold off former Iroquois lands for development. The settlement was  incorporated as a village on April 20, 1830, from a section of the Town of Amsterdam. This was a period of rapid growth for the village, influenced by major transportation developments. In turn, the Mohawk Turnpike, the Erie Canal, and construction of the railroad across the valley improved trade. The steeply descending creeks in the region, which flowed from the foothills of the Adirondacks, were used to power an increasing number of mills. These manufactured goods that were shipped from the region by land, canal and rail. Products such as linseed oil, brooms, knit ware, buttons, and iron goods were  produced in the growing village, which became an important manufacturing center. It was best known, however, for its carpets, eventually becoming the carpet and rug manufacturing center of the U.S. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Amsterdam was a destination for immigrants from Europe: Irish, Italian, Polish, and Lithuanian peoples, among others, who found work in the factories. In 1865, the population of Amsterdam was 5,135. New charters in 1854, 1865, and 1875 increased the size of the village. In 1885, Amsterdam incorporated as a city; it expanded by annexing Rockton to the north, and the former village  of Port Jackson on the south side of the Mohawk River was annexed to become the fifth ward of the city. By 1920, the city's population was 33,524. In the Great Depression, the mills slowed down their output, but did not close. The city survived the two world wars without significant effect. Shortly after World War II, however, manufacturing in general began to move to the southern United States, where labor costs and taxes were lower. The mills of Amsterdam also shifted their jobs to the South. After a period in the South, that region lost industrial jobs to  overseas locations. Additionally, the second and third generations of the city's immigrant families often left to go to college and did not return, as there were few jobs to attract college-educated citizens. The city attempted to re-create its industrial base, but these efforts were not particularly successful. Subsequent city and State projects intended for improved commuting and urban renewal resulted in eroding the local character of the city. As the city's website expresses it: In an attempt to draw people and business back to Amsterdam, the City and State began a program of urban renewal and  arterial roadway construction, destroying much of the original fabric of downtown. Now, not only is there less to go downtown for, it's harder to get there. Once again, Amsterdam is somewhere to be bypassed on the way to somewhere else. In the early 21st century, post-industrial Amsterdam is still trying to re-invent itself. The city suffered serious flood damage in late August 2011, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. The flooding threatened properties at the river's edge due to erosion and water damage. Geography. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total  area of 6.3 square miles (16.3 km), of which 5.9 square miles (15.4 km) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.9 km) is water, with the total area being 5.41% water. The city developed on both sides of the Mohawk River and Erie Canal, and both 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 also intersects east-west highways New York State Route  5 and New York State Route 67 in the city. New York State Route 5S passes along the south side of the Mohawk River. Amsterdam is currently within New York's 20th congressional district. Economy. In the 19th century, the city of Amsterdam was known for carpet, textile, and pearl button manufacturing. It continued to be a center for carpet-making in the 20th century, when the Bigelow-Sanford and Mohawk Mills Carpet companies both were located in Amsterdam, but these companies have relocated to other regions. Amsterdam was also the home of Coleco, makers of the ColecoVision, Cabbage Patch  Kids and the Coleco Adam. Founded in 1932 as the Connecticut Leather Company, Coleco went bankrupt in 1988 after a failed attempt to enter the electronics market, and pulled out of Amsterdam, as well as its other North American manufacturing sites. The enclosed shopping center is named the Amsterdam Riverfront Center. Once filled with clothing shops, the mall complex has been adapted for offices of doctors, public assistance services, community organizations, a radio station WCSS, and an off-track betting site. Media in Amsterdam includes one print newspaper, "The Recorder", which is owned by the Schenectady-based Daily Gazette, an  online newspaper, "The Mohawk Valley Compass", and two AM radio stations, WVTL and WCSS. In the early 2000s, distribution centers began being constructed in the Florida Business Park in the Town of Florida, which is located just outside the City of Amsterdam. The park currently holds Target, Hill & Marks, Alpin Haus, and most recently, Dollar General. In 2019, Vida Blend broke ground on a new distribution center in the park. Some thousands of city and adjacent county residents are now employed by these businesses. Demographics. As of the census of 2010, there were 18,620 people, 8,324 households, and 4,721 families  residing in the city. The population density was 3,176.4 people per square mile (1,226.4/km). There were 9,218 housing units at an average density of 1,573 per square mile (607/km). The racial makeup of the city was 80.4% White (68.1% Non Hispanic White), 3.8% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander and 3.4% from two or more races. 26.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 8,146 households in the city, with the average household size being 2.24 persons. In the city, 25.0% of the people were under the  age of 18 and 15.8% were age 65 or older. The median income for a household in the city, based on data from 2007 to 2011, was $38,699. Transportation. Amsterdam is at the convergence of State Routes 5, 30 and 67. The New York State Thruway/Interstate 90 is slightly less than one mile to the southwest of the city. Three Amtrak trains stop at Amsterdam Station in each direction daily: Although ill-considered urban renewal highway projects did significant damage to the city's historic downtown, a few historic buildings and sites, mostly from the 19th and 20th  centuries, remain in the city, and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP): The Chalmers Knitting Mills was added to the NRHP in 2010, but was later demolished. Education. Public schools. Elementary Secondary Library. The Amsterdam Free Library at 28 Church Street is a Carnegie library built in 1902-1903 with $25,000 from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It was designed by Albert W. Fuller in the Beaux-Arts style. Government. Amsterdam's government consists of a city council and a mayor. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The council consists of five members each elected  from wards. Notable people. Notable natives or residents of Amsterdam include: