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122-601: Formally organized on June 27, 1855, the Eckford Base Ball Club was named for shipbuilder Henry Eckford whose base of operations from the late 1790s until the early 1830s was Brooklyn, New York . He designed many American warships that participated in the War of 1812 . The team's first president was Frank Pidgeon , who was one of Eckford's founding members. From the sports page of Chicago's Daily Inter Ocean newspaper, December 20, 1879, p. 3: "Peter Tostevin, whose name

244-505: A humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfa ). The average temperature throughout the year is 50.9 °F (10.5 °C), with the highest average temperature in July being 74.9 °F (23.8 °C), and January being the coldest month with an average temperature of 25.5 °F (−3.6 °C). The annual precipitation is 42.09 inches (1,069 mm). The highest temperature in New York State

366-516: A public relations writer at nearby General Electric . His 1963 novel, Cat's Cradle , was written in the city and is set in Ilium. His recurring main character, Kilgore Trout, is a resident of Cohoes , just across the Hudson River from Troy. Like many old industrial cities, Troy has had to deal with the loss of its manufacturing base, loss of population and wealth to the suburbs, and to other parts of

488-500: A city in 1816. In the post–Revolutionary War years, as Central New York was first settled, a strong trend to classical names existed, and Troy's naming fits the same pattern as the New York cities of Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Ithaca, and the towns of Sempronius and Manlius, and dozens of other similarly named towns to the west of Troy. Troy's Latin motto is Ilium fuit, Troja est , which means "Ilium was, Troy is". Northern and Western New York

610-458: A community then called West Troy. After the Civil War , the steel production industry moved west to be closer to raw materials. The presence of iron and steel also made it possible for Troy to be an early site in the development of iron storefronts and steel structural supports in architecture, and some significant early examples remain in the city. Troy was an early home of professional baseball and

732-530: A five-year shipbuilding apprenticeship with his mother ' s brother, the noted Scottish-born Canadian shipwright John Black , at a shipyard Black had established on the St. Lawrence River in Lower Canada . Eckford proved to be a hard worker and quick learner, with a flair for shipbuilding and ship design. When Black moved to Kingston on Lake Ontario late in 1792, Eckford followed to continue his apprenticeship, but

854-632: A gift of the American government. Once he realized that she was a privately owned ship and was for sale, he purchased her. In the Ottoman Navy , she became Mesir-i Ferah . Mahmud II then hired Eckford, who began to build ships in the Turkish shipyard for the Ottoman Navy, starting with a small schooner, a frigate, and a 74-gun ship constructed using a frame imported from New York City. He also began to design

976-559: A large area. The city is on the central part of the western border of Rensselaer County. The Hudson River makes up the western border of the city and the county's border with Albany County. The city borders within Rensselaer County, Schaghticoke to the north, Brunswick to the east, and North Greenbush to the south; to the west, the city borders the Albany County town of Colonie , the villages of Menands and Green Island , and

1098-480: A mix of game and season records in contemporary newspapers and guides. Dozens of leading clubs by number of matches are included, as are many others. The records do not consistently cover either all games played or all championship matches between NABBP members. Henry Eckford (shipbuilder) Henry Eckford (12 March 1775 – 12 November 1832) was a Scottish-born American shipbuilder, naval architect, industrial engineer, and entrepreneur who worked for

1220-644: A naval shipbuilding point of view, the outstanding men of the War of 1812 were Eckford and the Browns, Adam and Noah. Through the efforts of these three, the [U.S.] Navy held control of the lakes and prevented the British from invading the North and Northwest [i.e., modern-day Ohio ]... No officer or constructor of the Navy accomplished more. There were no competitors to the Browns and Eckford among

1342-438: A process that presaged the later use of fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon-fiber composites. In 1900, Troy annexed Lansingburgh, a former town and village whose standing dates back prior to the War of Independence, in Rensselaer County. Lansingburgh is thus often referred to as "North Troy." However, prior to the annexation that portion of Troy north of Division Street was called North Troy and the neighborhood south of Washington Park

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1464-745: A significant contribution to the growth of American shipbuilding. After the War of 1812 began in June 1812, Eckford offered his services to United States Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton in a letter of 8 July 1812. US Navy Commodore Isaac Chauncey was placed in command of all Navy forces in the Great Lakes region, and he had known Eckford since Chauncey had been master of John Jacob Astor ' s Eckford-built ship Beaver in 1806–1807 and had supervised Eckford & Beebe ' s construction of US Navy gunboats in 1808. Chauncey visited New York City in

1586-561: A small valley at the south end of the city. The industry first used charcoal and iron ore from the nearby Adirondack Mountains. Later, ore and coal from the Midwest were shipped via the Erie Canal to Troy and were processed before being sent down the Hudson River to New York City. The iron and steel also were used by the extensive federal arsenal located—as it is today—across the Hudson at Watervliet ,

1708-471: A temporary position rather than any dispute he had with naval authorities. Again in private life, Eckford returned to commercial shipbuilding, including the construction for John Jacob Astor of the ships Isabella and Henry Astor of 1820 and the brig Tamaahmaah of 1824. Eckford ' s family moved in New York City's higher social circles, and he expanded his business interests, including ventures in

1830-545: A village. The name Troy, after the legendary Greek city of Troy made famous in Homer 's Iliad , was adopted in 1789, before which the tiny community had been known as Ashley's Ferry. The area was formed into the Town of Troy in 1791 from part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck . The township included today's towns of Brunswick and Grafton . Troy became a village in 1801 then was chartered as

1952-414: Is 86.8% whereas the number of persons with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8%. Additionally, due to the increasing age of the internet, the percentage of households with a computer from 2015 to 2019 has increased to 88.5% and those with a broadband Internet subscription lies at 81.5%. The city is also home to numerous churches (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant), three synagogues, and one mosque. Troy

2074-413: Is helping Troy develop a small high-technology sector, particularly in video game development . The downtown core also has a smattering of advertising and architecture firms, and other creative businesses attracted by the area's distinctive architecture. Uncle Sam Atrium is an enclosed urban shopping mall, office space, and parking garage in downtown Troy. RPI is the city's largest private employer. Troy

2196-469: Is home to Victorian and Belle Époque architecture . The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers play their part, as does the Erie Canal and its lesser tributary canal systems, and later the railroads that linked Troy to the rest of the Empire State , New York City to the south, and Utica, New York , Syracuse, New York , Rochester, New York , Buffalo, New York , and the myriad of emergent Great Lakes ' cities in

2318-552: Is known as the "Collar City" due to its history in shirt, collar, and other textile production. Until the early 1990s, Troy was home to several textile manufacturers, including Cluett, Peabody, a subsidiary of the nation's largest publicly held textile manufacturer West Point-Pepperell Inc. The detachable collar was first established in Troy in 1820 by a Mrs. Montague. Her husband was a prominent blacksmith who complained to his wife that after coming home from work he had no clean white shirts for

2440-467: Is known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. Through much of the 19th and into the early 20th centuries, Troy was one of the most prosperous cities in the United States. Prior to its rise as an industrial center, it was the transshipment point for meat and vegetables from Vermont and New York, which were sent by the Hudson River to New York City. The trade

2562-418: Is not his equal in the United States, or perhaps the world. His exertions are unexampled...," and in a letter of 15 January 1814, Jones replied, "The talents and zeal of Mr. Eckford the builder, is a source of great satisfaction and confidence, which assures me that though the enemy has made great progress in the building of his two largest vessels, he will be over taken and surpassed in this branch of service by

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2684-603: Is planning Troy's redevelopment. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 11.0 square miles (28 km ), of which 0.6 square miles (1.6 km ) (5.44%) is covered by water. Troy is located several miles north of Albany near the junction of the Erie and Champlain canals, via the Hudson River, and is the terminus of the New York Barge Canal . It is the distributing center for

2806-412: The sachem —the political leader of the indigenous people—at the time. In total, more than 75 individual Mohicans were involved in deed signings in the 17th Century. The site of the city was a part of Rensselaerswyck , a patroonship created by Kiliaen van Rensselaer. Dirck Van der Heyden was one of the first settlers. In 1707, he purchased a farm of 65 acres (26 ha), which in 1787 was laid out as

2928-621: The Capital District . The city is one of the three major centers for the Albany metropolitan statistical area, which has a population of 1,170,483. At the 2020 census , the population of Troy was 51,401. The area long had been occupied by the Mohican Indian tribe , but Dutch settlement began in the mid-17th century. The Dutch colony was conquered by the English in 1664, renamed Troy in 1789 and

3050-739: The Corinthian Courthouse constructed of gray granite; the Troy Public Library, built in an elaborate Venetian palazzo style with high-relief carved white marble; the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, designed in the Second Empire style, with a recital hall with highly regarded acoustic properties. There is a rich collection of Colonial , Federal , Italianate , Second Empire , Greek Revival , Egyptian Revival , Gothic Revival and other Romantic period townhouses surrounding

3172-513: The Eckford chain for him. Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and is the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York . It is located on the western edge of that county on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany. Troy has close ties to Albany, New York and nearby Schenectady , forming a region popularly called

3294-542: The Electoral College . At his shipyard, he built ships for the United States Government, including three lightships . Eckford's political activities led him to become part of the leadership of Tammany Hall . On 15 September 1826, he and other Tammany Hall leaders were indicted for committing millions of dollars in acts of fraud against banks, insurance companies, and private citizens. The first trial in

3416-594: The Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York and a Freemason lodge, where he met such prominent New Yorkers as Mayor DeWitt Clinton , Governor Daniel Tompkins , Chancellor Robert Livingston , and John Jacob Astor , with whom he formed a lasting business partnership. Eckford built the three-masted ship Beaver (427 tons) for Astor in 1805, and the great success of the ship established him as one of New York ' s best naval architects and shipbuilders. Later in

3538-607: The Tomhannock Reservoir . A 30-inch cast-iron main was added in 1914. In 2023, the city completed the first phase of installation of two 36-inch pipes totaling approximately 8 miles between the reservoir and the city's Water Treatment Plant as part of a multi-year project to fully replace the existing century-old transmission line. [1] The project began in 2021. [2] [3] [4] When the iron and steel industry moved westward to Pennsylvania around Pittsburgh to be closer to iron ore from Lake Erie and nearby coal and coke needed for

3660-614: The United States Navy and the navy of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. After building a national reputation in the United States through his shipbuilding successes during the War of 1812 , he became a prominent business and political figure in New York City in the 1810s, 1820s, and early 1830s. Eckford was born in Kilwinning , Scotland , to Henry Eckford and Janet Black (a possibly unmarried couple) on 12 March 1775,

3782-660: The corvette USS  General Pike in 1813 and the frigate USS  Superior in 1814. Eckford understood that the American war effort on the Great Lakes required the US Navy to keep ahead of British shipbuilding in Canada, and that speedy construction and delivery of warships was critical. Using prefabrication in New York City and on-site assembly in Sackets Harbor, he achieved what were considered breathtaking construction rates. Among

Eckford of Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue

3904-544: The "Eckford" name except locally.) In winter 1871, Eckford did not participate in founding the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), nor did it enter a team in that first professional league season. The team did win about half of about thirty games against NA opponents, including some late summer games picked up after the Fort Wayne Kekiongas went out of business. For 1872 Eckford paid

4026-591: The $ 10 entry fee and assembled a team but it was a woefully weak one that lost all of its 11 games played to July 9, with average score 5-22. Five of the league's eleven teams would drop out by late August but the Eckfords survived. Fortified by seven players from Troy and Cleveland , including both pitchers and three other regulars, they returned to the field August 9. The strengthened team won three of 18 games with average score 5-9. The old amateur rivals Atlantic and Eckford won only four and three of their last 18 games in

4148-516: The 128-gun ship-of-the-line Mahmoudieh . Mahmud II was impressed enough to consider giving Eckford a high imperial rank. Eckford's quick start in Ottoman service ended when he died suddenly in Constantinople on 12 November 1832, probably of cholera . Appropriately, his body was shipped home to New York City aboard the barque Henry Eckford , second ship of the name. He is buried with his wife in

4270-409: The 1960s, when most business had either gone out of business or moved south for cheaper land and labor costs. At one point, Troy was also the second-largest producer of iron in the country, surpassed only by the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Troy, like many older industrial cities, has been battered by industrial decline and the migration of jobs to the suburbs. Nevertheless, the presence of RPI

4392-512: The 19th century. In September 1810, Eckford took on 16-year-old Isaac Webb as an apprentice at his yard. In the following years, Eckford would take on many other apprentices who would become important naval architects and shipbuilders in their own right, including John A. Robb , Jacob Bell , William Bennett , David Brown , Andrew Craft , John Dimon , John Englis , Thomas Megson , Stephen Smith , and Sidney Wright . In thus spreading naval architecture and shipbuilding expertise, Eckford made

4514-421: The 2020 census The racial makeup of the city increased in the percentage of African Americans to 17.5% whereas the number of White residents decreased to 63.5%. The rest of the population was reported to be 0.1% Native American, 4.8% Asian, 9.6% Latino or Hispanic, and 7.3% two or more races. The majority of Troy's population consists of women (51.4%) whereas males makeup the remaining 48.6%. Troy residents under

4636-456: The Bessemer process, and with a similar downturn in the collar industry, Troy's prosperity began to fade. After the passage of Prohibition , and given the strict control of Albany by the O'Connell political machine, Troy became a way station for an illegal alcohol trade from Canada to New York City. Likewise, the stricter control of morality laws in the neighboring New England states encouraged

4758-470: The Brooklyn Navy Yard laid down the largely Eckford-designed 74-gun frigate USS  Ohio ; she was launched in 1820 and established a model upon which "74s" were built thereafter. Eckford resigned from his post at the yard on 6 June 1820, the week after Ohio was launched, and returned to running his private shipyard. Ohio , however, would not see service for years. Funding for her completion

4880-589: The Brooklyn rendition. (Wright (2000) mentions "Eckford" clubs in Albany 1864-1867, Syracuse 1870, and Newark 1870, as well as the distinctly named "Henry Eckford" club in New York 1860-1864. Due to internal turmoil, the Henry Eckfords organized on August 23, 1859, headed by Dr. William Bell and consisted of Eckford players who were from New York, today referred to as Manhattan. The other Eckfords were not prominent and did not travel so there must little occasion to qualify

5002-824: The Division I level and won various championships including the national title in 1954 and 1985. The Hudson Valley CC Vikings participate in Region III of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and in the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference. Russell Sage College's Gators compete at the NCAA Division III level in numerous sports and in, among various conferences, the Empire 8 Conference. In 1892, poll watcher Robert Ross

Eckford of Brooklyn - Misplaced Pages Continue

5124-478: The Great Lakes and, finding the yards on Lake Erie at Erie , Pennsylvania, and Black Rock , New York, struggling, made suggestions to their staffs on how to improve their shipbuilding efforts. Chauncey wrote to Noah Brown to hurry north from New York City and take charge at Erie, which Brown did in February 1813 while his brother Adam remained in New York City to work with Christian Bergh in ensuring that Noah received

5246-518: The Great Lakes; Eckford joined Chauncey and the US Army commander, Major General Jacob Brown , in talking to the men and defusing the situation, avoiding further violence and allowing shipyard work to continue. With both the Browns and Eckford active at Sackets Harbor, it has become a bit murky as to what extent Eckford was involved in the building of some of the ships there. He was in charge of all shipbuilding there and probably prepared plans for most of

5368-517: The Lake , Superior , General Pike , Madison , and Mohawk were his. Eckford extended extensive credit to the United States Government during the war, going bankrupt in the process because of difficulty the government had in paying him, although he never doubted that it eventually would. His efforts, along with those of Adam and Noah Brown, were key to American success on Lake Ontario during

5490-524: The National Association league for its second season. Eckford of Brooklyn may be another latterday coinage. Contemporary readers would probably understand it as an abbreviation for something like Eckford Base Ball Club, of Brooklyn in contrast to "Eckford" clubs in other cities. "Eckford" was not common as the root of a ballclub name — in contrast to "Athletic", "Atlantic", and "Mutual" — so there must have been little need to distinguish

5612-534: The Navy as chief naval constructor at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1817, which he probably viewed as a temporary position until the market improved for privately built ships. While there, he and his apprentice Isaac Webb oversaw construction of the schooner USS  Grampus , launched in 1821 and considered one of the fastest schooners of the day until she capsized and sank in a storm with the loss of all hands off Charleston , South Carolina, in 1843. In 1817,

5734-508: The Night Before Christmas"). The poem was published anonymously. Its author has long been believed to have been Clement Clarke Moore , but now is regarded by some as having been Henry Livingston Jr. Scientific and technical proficiency was supported by the presence of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), one of the highest-ranked engineering schools in the country. RPI originally was sponsored by Stephen Van Rensselaer , one of

5856-491: The Paine mansion) , Scent of a Woman , The Bostonians , The Emperor's Club , and The Time Machine . In addition, the television series The Gilded Age filmed in Troy. There are many buildings in a state of disrepair, but community groups and investors are restoring many of them. Troy's downtown historic landmarks include Frear's Troy Cash Bazaar, constructed on a steel infrastructure clad in ornately carved white marble;

5978-498: The Troy Downtown Marina. As home to many art, literature, and music lovers, the city hosts many free shows during the summer, on River Street, in parks, and in cafes and coffee shops. The executive branch consists of a mayor who serves as the chief executive officer of the city. The mayor is responsible for the proper administration of all city affairs placed in his/her charge as empowered by the city charter. The mayor enforces

6100-400: The United States on May 31, 1852, and that he was a mason and master builder. Eckford was one of 16 participants in the 1857 convention, all from modern New York City. There the pioneer New York Knickerbockers essentially transferred baseball governance to the leading clubs as a group, so the event is traditionally considered the birthday of the National Association of Base Ball Players and

6222-528: The United States. In the late 19th century, a series of cigar bands commemorating important figures of the 19th century included Henry Eckford along with industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie , merchant and yachtsman Sir Thomas Lipton , inventor Samuel F. B. Morse , and industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt . The first steamboat with a compound engine , the commercial passenger-cargo steamer PS Henry Eckford , built in 1824 by Mowatt Brothers and Company and in service until 1841,

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6344-474: The W. & L. E. Gurley Company factory, which later that year was replaced by the new W. & L. E. Gurley Building , now a National Historic Landmark : Gurley & Sons remains a worldwide leader in precision instrumentation to this day. Troy's one-time great wealth was produced in the steel industry, with the first American Bessemer converter erected on the Wynantskill Creek, a stream with falls in

6466-483: The War of 1812. Chauncey wrote in praise of Eckford to Secretary of the Navy William Jones on 8 October 1813, saying, "...yet as Mr. Eckford has built 4 vessels at this place, and has become acquainted with the resources and people of this part of the country, I think that he could have built sooner and perhaps cheaper than perhaps any other man, and as to his talents as a ship carpenter, I am bold to say that there

6588-431: The age of 5 were reported to be 5.2%, under the age of 18 were 19.6%, and 65 years and over were 11.4%. People with a disability, under age 65 years were 13.3% and those without health insurance (under age 65 years) was outlined to be 5.9%. The population of veterans in 2020 was 1,907, which coincided with those who had disabilities. The number of foreign born persons, between 2015 and 2019, was 8.0%. Economically in 2020,

6710-699: The arrival of Europeans, the Mohican Indians had a number of settlements along the Hudson River near its confluence with the Mohawk River . The land comprising the Poesten Kill and Wynants Kill areas -- "kill" being the Dutch word for "creek" or small stream—were owned by two Mohican groups. The land around the Poesten Kill was owned by Skiwias and was called Panhooseck. The area around the Wynants Kill, known as Paanpack,

6832-485: The brig Fox in 1809 and the ship Hannibal in 1810. Fox in particular was noted for her great speed thanks to the streamlined hull form Eckford designed for her, making the trip from Calcutta , India , to New York City in only 90 days – a record that would stand for 40 years – and making the round trip from New York to Calcutta and back in only seven months and 14 days. It was the speed of his ships thanks to their revolutionary hull form that gained Eckford great fame in

6954-406: The building ways. His work at Sackets Harbor had earned Eckford a national reputation as a hero of the war, and he returned to New York City to great praise for his wartime work on the Great Lakes. After returning to New York City, Eckford quickly became involved in naval design and construction at his yard there. The market for such ships was depressed after the war, however, so he took a job with

7076-542: The burgeoning United States. Natives of Troy expressed their passion for building, using the following materials, for an array of building features: Tiffany and La Farge created magnificent stained-glass windows, transoms and other decorative stained-glass treatments for their customers in Troy. With many examples of intact 19th-century architecture, particularly in its Central Troy Historic District , this has helped to lure several major movies to film in Troy, including Ironweed , The Age of Innocence (filmed partially in

7198-636: The case ended in a hung jury in October 1826. Eckford was not brought to trial again, although other defendants were convicted in a second trial. Eckford sought an apology and public statement of his innocence from District Attorney Hugh Maxwell , but succeeded only in having Maxwell make a statement that Eckford had been duped by others into illegal acts. Eckford challenged Maxwell to a duel in December 1827, but Maxwell ignored him. Thanks to Eckford's political connections, five different Congresses considered bills for

7320-485: The cemetery at St. George's Episcopal Church in Hempstead, New York . The North Ayrshire , Scotland, town council calls Henry Eckford "the father of the U.S. Navy." Various 19th-century baseball teams in the United States were named in honour of Henry Eckford. The most prominent one was Eckford of Brooklyn , a Brooklyn , New York, baseball team composed largely of local shipwrights ; it played from 1855 to 1872 and

7442-463: The cities of Watervliet and Cohoes. To the northwest, Troy borders the Saratoga County village of Waterford within the town of Waterford . The western edge of the city is flat along the river, and then steeply slopes to higher terrain to the east. The average elevation is 50 feet, with the highest elevation being 500 feet in the eastern part of the city. The city is longer than it is wide, with

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7564-673: The city subsequently had no team for seven seasons. Then, from 1879 to 1882, Troy rebounded as home to the National League 's Troy Trojans . They not only were competitive in the league, they fielded a young Dan Brouthers who went on to become baseball's first great slugger. Today's sports scene is quite different.The Tri-City ValleyCats, a minor league professional baseball team, calls the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium at Hudson Valley Community College home. The RPI Engineers are an NCAA Division III sports participant except in ice hockey where it plays at

7686-422: The city's median household income had increased to $ 45,728 per family, with each family reporting to have 2.25 persons residing in them. The per capita income in past 12 months (in 2019 dollars), taken 2015–2019 was $ 25,689 with 24.4% of the population living in poverty. The poverty rate overall has decreased 3.3% since 2013. The education rate of Troy locals, 25 years or more, with a high school graduate or higher

7808-402: The coasts, where they greatly interfered with shipbuilding decisions and progress during the war. When word reached Sackets Harbor in late February 1815 that the War of 1812 had ended, Chauncey ordered Eckford and his employees to suspend all operations at Sackets Harbor and return home, leaving the never-launched USS New Orleans , planned as the largest ship in the world at the time, behind on

7930-470: The construction of Ohio , and that Eckford's design varied little from the Commissioners' ideas and sparked no controversy, and he ascribes the notion of a dispute between the Commissioners and Eckford to tradition. Ohio was considered a fine ship and she served in the Navy until 1883, and Eckford's departure from the Brooklyn Navy Yard probably had more to do with his own view of his employment there being

8052-582: The construction of two enclosed ballparks during the amateur days when few players migrated to baseball jobs. Third, New York and Brooklyn had the early start, as the hotbeds where multiple clubs developed prior to cooperation. At the first convention, eight of 16 clubs were based in Brooklyn; three years later, it was 20 of 59. For all these reasons, When the NABBP permitted open professionalism in 1869, Eckford and Atlantic among dozens of Brooklyn members were both viable in following that route, and in 1872 they both joined

8174-620: The country. This led to dilapidation and disinvestment until later efforts were made to preserve Troy's architectural and cultural past. As of 2014 , Troy is updating its citywide comprehensive plan for the first time in more than 50 years. The two-year process is known as "Realize Troy" and was initiated by the Troy Redevelopment Foundation (with members from the Emma Willard School, RPI, Russell Sage College , and St. Peter's Health Partners). Urban Strategies Inc. (Toronto)

8296-462: The couple gave Eckford his first grandchild in 1819. Anither daughter, Janet Eckford, married the American zoologist James Ellsworth De Kay . In 1799 or 1800, Eckford moved into a house on Long Island and opened his own shipyard on the East River in Brooklyn . He designed and built his first ship, the three-masted Sportsman (later renamed Samuel Elam ) of 324 gross refgister tons , in 1800. Around 1802, he sold his yard and moved back across

8418-551: The development of openly operating speakeasies and brothels in Troy. Gangsters such as " Legs Diamond " conducted their business in Troy, giving the city a somewhat colorful reputation through World War II. A few of the buildings from that era have since been converted into restaurants, such as the former Old Daly Inn. Kurt Vonnegut lived in Troy and the area, and many of his novels include mentions of "Ilium" (an alternate name for Troy) or surrounding locations. Vonnegut wrote Player Piano in 1952, based on his experiences working as

8540-400: The financial relief of Eckford and his heirs over the course of many years following the scandal. In addition to his financial and legal problems, Eckford faced family tragedy. His oldest child Sarah, widowed when Joseph Rodman Drake suddenly died of consumption in 1820, fell ill in the autumn of 1827. On 23 January 1828, while caring for Sarah, Eckford ' s 19-year-old daughter Henrietta

8662-489: The first week of September 1812 to meet with Eckford and his fellow shipbuilders Christian Bergh and Adam and Noah Brown about the problem of building a fleet of warships on Lake Ontario. Eckford, with experience in building ships in both Kingstown and Oswego, was an obvious choice for building ships for Chauncey on the Great Lakes, and Adam and Noah Brown also agreed to head north to design and build Chauncey ' s fleet, while Bergh agreed to remain in New York City and oversee

8784-468: The historical home of Uncle Sam, who is buried in the historic Oakwood Cemetery located on the northern outskirts of the city and the burial site of numerous local luminaries. The iconic Uncle Sam caricature was created by political newspaper cartoonist Thomas Nast . On December 23, 1823, The Troy Sentinel newspaper was the first publisher of the world-famous Christmas poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas " (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" or " 'Twas

8906-472: The immediate downtown. The Hart-Cluett Mansion displays a Federal facade executed in white marble, quarried in Tuckahoe, New York . Often with foundations of rusticated granite block. Medina sandstone , a deep mud-red color, from Medina, New York , was also used. As with many American cities, several city blocks in downtown Troy were razed during the 1970s as a part of an attempted urban renewal plan, which

9028-453: The industry when, in 1933, Sanford Cluett invented a process he called Sanforization , a process that shrinks cotton fabrics thoroughly and permanently. Cluett, Peabody's last main plant in Troy, was closed in the 1980s, but the industrial output of the plant had long been transferred to facilities in the South. In 1906, the city supplied itself with water from a 33-inch riveted-steel main from

9150-497: The largest industry in town, with a variety of products including detachable collars, arrow shirts, and other apparel. Around the early 20th century, Troy was responsible for making 90% of the collars worn in America. This was also the birthplace of the "white collar" social class, which was a more upscale working class community and the "blue collar" social class, which consisted of mostly factory workers. The industry had mostly died out by

9272-606: The latter operating from Albany–Rensselaer station , directly opposite downtown Albany on the east side of the Hudson River. The end of rail passenger service to Troy occurred when the Boston and Maine dropped its Boston–Troy run in January 1958. The Troy Union Station was demolished in 1958. In addition to the strong presence of the early American steel industry, Troy also was a manufacturing center for shirts, shirtwaists, detachable collars and cuffs. In 1825, local resident Hannah Lord Montague

9394-462: The men and supplies he needed. Noah Brown later moved to Lake Champlain , and later still to Sackets Harbor, where he joined Eckford in ship design and construction activities. At the Sackets Harbor shipyard, where Eckford had a work force of over 200 carpenters by April 1813 and of over 400 by April 1814 and where he employed over 800 men by January 1815, Eckford and the Browns combined to build all US Navy men-of-war launched on Lake Ontario during

9516-519: The most prominent members of that family of Dutch colonial origins. RPI was founded in 1824, and eventually absorbed the campus of the short-lived liberal arts-based Troy University , which closed in 1862 during the Civil War. Rensselaer founded RPI for the "application of science to the common purposes of life," and it is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world. The institute

9638-548: The much stronger six-team league from mid-August. In four matches they each won two and scored 37 runs. They may have been equals on the field once again, but Eckford went out of business while Atlantic improved its team and moved in to share the Union Grounds with the Mutuals for the last three National Association seasons. Source for season records: Wright (2000) has published records for dozens of NABBP teams each season, relying on

9760-632: The name "Eckford of Brooklyn" or "Eckford Base Ball Club of Brooklyn". The club plays its home games at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration (OBVR) in Old Bethpage , New York, and won the in-house OBVR championship annually from 2012 through 2016 and the Mid-Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League (MAVBBL) Championship in 2016. The 21st-century Eckfords have quickly become one of the premier 19th-century baseball clubs in

9882-427: The navy yards, or in the contract shipyards along the coasts, [even though] on the lakes... building was made infinitely more difficult than on the coast because of climate and geographical conditions, to say nothing of scarcities of labor and some materials." One advantage Eckford and the Browns may have had was a lack of attention by US government officials to their activities; Federal officials focused their efforts on

10004-491: The next day. Mrs. Montague solved this problem by cutting collars off of her husbands shirts, and reattaching clean ones for him to wear when needed. This created the important industry of detachable collars and shirts in Troy. It also created the need for buttons, as a detachable collar often left gaps between the shirt and the collar, and buttons were used to snap collars in place. Other types of apparel invented in this time were Bishop collars, which were an upright modification of

10126-653: The participants are considered the NABBP charter members. Today the Eckford club and its teams are commonly called "the Brooklyn Eckfords ". The Eckfords , plural with definite article, was used by contemporary writers in prose, perhaps for the grammatical parallel to ordinary nouns used with plural verbs ("the visitors are staying downtown" or "the men are playing well"); perhaps by direct analogy to plurals formed from family names ("the Millers are coming to dinner"). "Brooklyn" in

10248-399: The population. The median household income in 2013 was $ 37,805 (NY average of $ 57,369), and the median family income was $ 47,827 (NYS average of $ 70,485). The median per capita income for the city was $ 20,872 (NY average of $ 32,514). About 27.3% of the population were living in poverty as of 2013. Since then, Troy's population size has increased to 51,401 with 19,899 households, taken from

10370-412: The project enhanced his reputation further with the US Navy and gave him experience in shipbuilding under the primitive conditions then prevailing along the New York shore of Lake Ontario. Returning to New York City in 1809, Eckford bought out his partner Beebe and became sole owner of a new shipyard he established which would remain his main place of business for the rest of his life. For Astor, he built

10492-406: The river to New York City, where he and Edward or Lester Beebe (sources differ) opened a new shipyard together. The yard prospered, turning out a series of ships that were handy and seaworthy, and upon which Eckford built a reputation as a talented shipbuilder. He also befriended the successful New York shipbuilder Christian Bergh , and on 10 June 1803, became a United States citizen. He joined

10614-555: The scandals of 1826 and 1827, left New York in June 1831 aboard the new 1,000-ton, 26-gun corvette United States , which his yard had built on speculation in 1830–1831 and which he hoped to sell to the Ottomans. Eckford and his ship arrived in Constantinople in mid-August 1831. United States reputedly was a fast sailer, although she did not make particularly good time on her voyage from New York to Constantinople. At first, Sultan Mahmud II thought that United States had arrived as

10736-488: The schooner USS  Sylph took only 21 days from keel-laying to launch in 1813. Eckford also demonstrated a facility for dealing with labour crises, as demonstrated by an incident on 1 May 1814, when a United States Army soldier on sentry duty at Sackets Harbor shot and killed a carpenter after the launching of USS Superior , provoking an armed confrontation between soldiers and shipyard workers, who threatened to go on strike and go home, crippling American shipbuilding on

10858-485: The shipbuilders, mess and kitchen buildings, a hospital, offices, and blockhouses, in what once had been merely a quiet hamlet, and made Sackets Harbor one of the US Navy's main bases during the war, also taking the opportunity to invest in real estate in the area. With the shipyard in operation, Eckford took time away from it in December 1812 to join Chauncey in an inspection tour of American military and shipyard facilities on

10980-579: The shipping, banking, insurance, and publishing sectors. He also became involved in politics, serving in the 40th New York State Legislature as a Democratic-Republican member of the New York State Assembly from 1816 to 1817, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives as a Clintonian Federalist in New York's 2nd congressional district in 1821, and serving in

11102-434: The ships, but the Browns' contracts were independent of his, proposals for the Browns and Eckford to combine forces to build some of the ships do not appear to have borne fruit, and some of the ships the Browns built may have borrowed from Eckford's plans without him being otherwise involved in their construction. Despite tradition that he was, Eckford may not have been in involved the construction of New Orleans , but Lady of

11224-486: The southern part wider than the northern section of the city (the formerly separate city of Lansingburgh). Several kills ( Dutch for creek) pass through Troy and empty into the Hudson. The Poesten Kill and Wynants Kill are the two largest, and both have several small lakes and waterfalls along their routes in the city. Several lakes and reservoirs are within the city, including Ida Lake, Burden Pond, Lansingburgh Reservoir, Bradley Lake, Smarts Pond, and Wright Lake. Troy has

11346-476: The superior energy and judgment of Mr. Eckford." In the words of maritime historian Howard I. Chapelle , "It was Eckford's extraordinary ability to design, lay down, and build ships, ranging in size from a very small schooner to the largest frigates, working in a wilderness and in severe winter weather with sick or dissatisfied labor, and to do all this in extremely short periods of time, that maintained American superiority on Lake Ontario." Chapelle continues, "From

11468-430: The team name is a later development, matching the later convention that a club or team should be named for a locale or region that it represents. The Eckfords never represented Brooklyn. First, they did not survive to the era of exclusive territories, sometimes called " sports franchising ", which the new National League instituted in 1876. Second, Brooklyn was populous enough to maintain several strong teams and support

11590-471: The title "master builder." He emigrated to the United States that year, settling in New York City – a booming city with a flourishing shipbuilding industry – to work as a journeyman in a boatyard on the East River . In April 1799, the 24-year-old Eckford married 20-year-old Marion Bedell. They had nine children:. Their daughter Sarah Eckford married the noted American poet Joseph Rodman Drake in 1816, and

11712-403: The transportation of men and materiel north to Lake Ontario. Suspending all work at his New York shipyard, Eckford gathered his apprentices and his best workers and set out a few days after the meeting with Chauncey for the approximately 300-mile (480-km) journey to Sackets Harbor , New York, on the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario, where he set about establishing a naval base and shipyard. He

11834-401: The turn-down collar, dickeys, detached shirt bosoms, and separate cuffs. This industry also gave rise to the laundry industry, when the first laundry store Troy Laundry was opened at 66 North Second St (Fifth Avenue today), and later on, the laundry industry in Troy would spark the creation of the first female union in the country. For close to a hundred years, Cluett, Peabody & Company was

11956-468: The two soon went their separate ways, with Black moving to Quebec City to pursue revolutionary politics while Eckford stayed behind in Kingston to continue to learn the shipbuilding trade. In 1794, Eckford joined a Freemason Lodge in Kingston, beginning a long association with Freemasonry . In 1796, Eckford reached the age of 21 and completed his apprenticeship, becoming a shipwright (or "mechanic") with

12078-459: The war. By 1814, the Sackets Harbor yard had converted some Great Lakes merchant vessels to carry guns and also had launched eight new purpose-built warships. Among the converted ships was the sloop-of-war USS  Trippe ; the new purpose-built warships ranged in size from the 89-ton schooner USS  Lady of the Lake launched in 1813, to the never-finished 3,200-ton, 106-gun ship-of-the-line USS  New Orleans , and also included

12200-482: The yard ' s most spectacular feats was the rapid construction of Madison , which took only nine weeks from the cutting of her timbers, and only 45 days from keel-laying, to launch on 26 November 1812; the yard went on to beat that record in November 1814 by taking only five weeks between laying the keel of the frigate USS  Mohawk and launching her. The Sackets Harbor yard also built smaller ships in record time;

12322-451: The year, he constructed the ship Magdalen for Astor, and in 1808 he built the brig Sylph for him. Eckford did his first shipbuilding work for the US Navy beginning in 1806, when the Eckford & Beebe shipyard built coastal gunboats for the Navy. In July 1808, Christian Bergh invited Eckford to join him in building the 14-gun US Navy brig USS  Oneida at Oswego , New York, on Lake Ontario. Although he did not design Oneida ,

12444-500: The youngest of five sons. The family soon moved to nearby Irvine , where he attended school and became a lifelong friend of schoolmate John Galt , a future novelist. As a boy, Eckford trained as a ship ' s carpenter somewhere in Ayrshire , probably in the shipyard at Irvine on the Firth of Clyde . In 1791, at the age of 16, Eckford left Scotland – to which he never returned – to begin

12566-421: Was a theater of the War of 1812 , and militia and regular army forces were led by Stephen Van Rensselaer of Troy. Quartermaster supplies were shipped through Troy. A local butcher and meatpacker named Samuel Wilson supplied the military, and according to local lore, stamped the meat barrels "U.S." which alternately was interpreted as "United States" and " Uncle Sam ," meaning Wilson. Troy has since claimed to be

12688-551: Was absorbed by Cluett, Peabody & Company . Cluett's Arrow brand shirts still are worn by men across the country. The large labor force required by the shirt manufacturing industry also produced in 1864 the nation's first female labor union , the Collar Laundry Union , founded in Troy by Kate Mullany . On February 23, 1864, 300 members of the union went on strike. After six days, the laundry owners gave in to their demands and raised wages 25%. Further developments arose in

12810-449: Was badly burned when a fireplace set her dress on fire, and Eckford ' s 22-year-old son John also suffered severe burns while beating out the flames with his hands; within a few days, both Henrietta and John died of their injuries. Sarah Eckford meanwhile, never recovered from her illness; she lingered until 29 November 1828, when she died at the age of 28. In the 1820s, American shipyards began to build ships for foreign navies. Eckford

12932-559: Was constructed c.  1903 . A short New York Central branch from Rensselaer connected at Troy. Also serving the station was the Boston and Maine Railroad to/from Boston and the Delaware and Hudson Railroad to/from Canada. The railroads quickly made obsolete the 1800s-constructed canals along the Mohawk. The former NYC operates today as CSX for freight service and Amtrak for passenger service,

13054-482: Was identified with the early history of the once famous Eckford Club of Brooklyn, N.Y., died in that city Dec. 8, aged 52. He assisted in organizing that club, and played first base during the seasons of 1856-57, and third base during 1858, filling the office of President in the latter year." Immigration and census records show that Peter Tostevin, a resident of Brooklyn, was born in France in about 1827, that he immigrated to

13176-592: Was incorporated as a town in 1791. Due to the confluence of major waterways and a geography that supported water power, the American Industrial Revolution took hold in this area, making Troy reputedly the fourth-wealthiest city in America around the turn of the 20th century. As a result, Troy is noted for its Victorian architecture. Troy is home to a number of institutions of higher learning, including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , Hudson Valley Community College and Russell Sage College . Prior to

13298-626: Was named for Henry Eckford. One U.S. Navy ship, the fleet replenishment oiler USNS  Henry Eckford  (T-AO-192) , has been named for Henry Eckford. Launched in 1989, she was never completed, and finally was scrapped in 2011. Eckford Street in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn , New York, is named for Henry Eckford. A chain of lakes in the Adirondack Mountains in Indian Lake , New York, that Eckford surveyed in 1811 are named

13420-423: Was never successfully executed, leaving still vacant areas in the vicinity of Federal Street. Today, however, there have since been much more successful efforts to save the remaining historic downtown structures. Part of this effort has been the arrival of the "Antique District" on River Street downtown. Cafes and art galleries are calling the area home. Residents and visitors can access the area via boat and utilize

13542-467: Was not forthcoming because the navy was not a high priority during the quiet 1820s and 1830s. Tradition holds that the ship also ran afoul of naval politics; it has been claimed that the Board of Navy Commissioners , led by Commodore John Rodgers , felt that Eckford had ignored their design for Ohio and blocked her completion. Chapelle, however, claims that no acrimony at all can be found in documents regarding

13664-449: Was owned by Peyhaunet. The land between the creeks, which makes up most of today's downtown and South Troy neighborhood along the Hudson River, was owned by Annape. South of the Wynants Kill and into present-day Town of North Greenbush , the land was owned by Pachquolapiet. These parcels of land were sold to the Dutch between 1630 and 1657, and each purchase was overseen and signed by Skiwias,

13786-598: Was part of this trend; in 1830, for example, he built the sloop-of-war Kensington in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, for the Imperial Russian Navy , although ultimately the ship was delivered to Mexico instead. After a shattering defeat of its navy in the Battle of Navarino in October 1827, the Ottoman Empire began looking for help in rebuilding its fleet. Eckford, seeking to rebuild his fortune and reputation after

13908-450: Was recorded in Troy on July 22, 1926, when it reached 108 °F (42.2 °C). At the 2010 census , 50,129 people, 20,121 households and 10,947 families were residing in the city. The population density was 4,840.1 people/sq mi, with 23,474 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 69.7% White, 16.4% African American, 0.3% Native American, 3.4% Asian, and 4.1% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 7.9% of

14030-632: Was referred to as South Troy. To avoid confusion with streets in Troy following the annexation, Lansingburgh's numbered streets were renamed: its 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street, etc., became North Troy's 101st Street, 102nd Street, 103rd Street, etc. Lansingburgh was home to the Lansingburgh Academy . In the early 1900s, the New York Central Railroad was formed from earlier railroads and established its "Water Level Route" from New York City to Chicago, via Albany. A Beaux-Arts station

14152-430: Was shot dead and his brother was wounded by operatives of Mayor Edward Murphy, later a U.S. senator, after uncovering a man committing voter fraud. The convicted murderer, Bartholomew "Bat" Shea, was executed in 1896, although another man, John McGough, later admitted he had been the shooter. The initial emphasis on heavier industry later spawned a wide variety of highly engineered mechanical and scientific equipment. Troy

14274-402: Was the first of the men at the meeting to arrive on the Great Lakes. Chauncey joined him at Sackets Harbor on 6 October 1812, establishing his headquarters there, and finding that Eckford already had a shipyard in operation and had laid the keel of the 42-gun frigate USS  Madison . Despite terrible winter weather, Eckford not only quickly established a shipyard, but also quarters for

14396-506: Was the home of W. & L. E. Gurley, Co. , makers of precision instruments. Gurley's theodolites were used to survey much of the American West after the Civil War and were highly regarded until laser and digital technology eclipsed the telescope and compass technology in the 1970s. Bells manufactured by Troy's Meneely Bell Company ring all over the world. Troy also was home to a manufacturer of racing shells that used impregnated paper in

14518-464: Was the host of two major league teams. The first team to call Troy home was the Troy Haymakers , a National Association team operating in 1871–72. One of its major players was Williams H. Craver , a Civil War veteran who was a noted catcher and also managed the team. Its last manager was Jimmy Wood , recognized as the first Canadian to play professional baseball. The Troy Haymakers team folded, and

14640-551: Was the national champion in 1862 and 1863. For at least four seasons, from 1860 to 1864, a separate "Henry Eckford" team also played in Brooklyn, while other teams named "Eckford" played in Albany , New York, from 1864 to 1867, in Syracuse , New York, in 1870, and in Newark , New Jersey, in 1870. In 2011, a 19th-century baseball club, composed of players from Long Island, was organized and adopted

14762-458: Was tired of cleaning her blacksmith-husband's shirts. She cut off the collars of his shirts since only the collar was soiled, bound the edges and attached strings to hold the false collars in place. This also allowed the collars and cuffs to be starched separately. Montague's idea caught on and changed the fashion for American men's dress for a century. Her patented collars and cuffs first were manufactured by Maullin & Blanchard, which eventually

14884-539: Was vastly increased after the construction of the Erie Canal , with its eastern terminus directly across the Hudson River from Troy at Cohoes in 1825. Another artery constructed was the Champlain Canal. In 1916, Troy Federal Lock opened as one of the first modern locks along the present-day canal system. Troy has nearly been destroyed by fire three times. What was known as the Great Troy Fire of 1862 burned down

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