Mechanicville is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,163 at the 2020 census, a small decrease from 5,196 in 2010. It is the smallest city by area in the state. The name is derived from the occupations of early residents.

The city is located on the eastern border of Saratoga County and is north of Albany, the state capital. Mechanicville borders the towns of Stillwater (of which it was once a part) and Halfmoon in the county, and the town of Schaghticoke, Rensselaer County.

History

The first listing of a settlement on Tenandeho Creek (Anthony Kill) is in 1721. At that time, Cornelius Van Buren had a sawmill at the mouth of the creek where it emptied into the Hudson River.

thumb|[[Perspective map and of Mechanicville and list of landmarks from late 19th century by L.R. Burleigh]]

The first documented occurrence of the name "Mechanicville" dates back to 1829. The name comes from the early settlers, who were independent mastercraftsmen such as millers, carpenters, or butchers, whose professions were commonly known as the "mechanical arts" at the time.

About 35 years later, small flour mills were already established. When the Champlain Canal reached the settlement in 1823, and especially when the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad laid a track through the area in 1835, Mechanicville became an important commerce interchange.

The community became an incorporated village in 1859, when it had about 1000 inhabitants. It grew rapidly as textile mills, factories, and a linen thread company came to Mechanicville.

The first conspicuous casualty of the American Civil War, Elmer E. Ellsworth, was buried in Mechanicville in 1861. His grave is located in the Hudson View Cemetery and is identifiable with a large eagle on top of his memorial.

In 1878, additional railways came to the village, and it became an important center of papermaking.

In 1898, Robert Newton King built a hydroelectric power plant on the Hudson River. The Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant is now the oldest continuously operating hydroelectric plant in the United States and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

By 1900, Mechanicville was a major transfer yard and car repair center for the railways. In the 1920s, Mechanicville had a population of nearly 10,000.

In both the 1900 and 1910 censuses, Mechanicville was enumerated with the town of Half Moon, just to the south of Stillwater.

Mechanicville became a city in 1915. By 1932, it became the terminal of the first experimental high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) scheme in the U.S.: the HVDC Mechanicville–Schenectady line.

With the decline of the railroads, Mechanicville suffered. The largest paper mill in the world, which Mechanicville had hosted since 1904, ceased operations in 1971, and the once thriving industrial city is today a quiet residential city, with most inhabitants working in Albany, Schenectady, and other nearby communities.

left|250px|thumb|A typical residential street in Mechanicville

On November 1, 2001, Mechanicville was featured on the Daily Show with then-rising comedian Steve Carell. The Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant and Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth Monument and Grave are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mechanicville-Stillwater tornado

On May 31, 1998, a large tornado tore through Mechanicville and the adjacent town of Stillwater. It was spawned by a series of severe storms in the late afternoon, causing major damage to the town's old industrial section located on US Route 4 and NY-32, along the Hudson River. One of the two historic smokestacks (visible from two miles away) was knocked down by the tornado. In 2005, the other smokestack and the conjoined building were bulldozed. Houses on the Viall Avenue hill sections of Mechanicville and Stillwater were completely destroyed. The tornado was rated F3 on the Fujita scale (winds estimated at 200 MPH).

Rail yard

In January 2012, a new intermodal and automotive terminal opened on the site of a former Boston and Maine rail yard. The new rail yard was built by Pan Am Southern, a joint venture between Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern.

The $40 million facility Is also used for filet-toupee operations, converting double stack container trains from the west to single stack by removing the top layer of containers. This allows the rest of the train to proceed east along track that lacks double stack clearance, particularly the 4 mile Hoosac Tunnel. The removed containers are trucked to local destinations. Toupee refers to the reverse process, where a single stack train coming from the east has additional containers placed on top for the rest of its trip.

Some 300 trucks a day visit the site. The automotive terminal opened in 2014.

Geography

Mechanicville is located at (42.903922, -73.690458).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (8.79%) is water. The city of Mechanicville is on the west bank of the Hudson River at the influx of the Anthony Kill. US Route 4, and conjoined New York State Route 32 are north–south highways through Mechanicville. New York State Route 67 intersects NY-32 and US-4 in the city. County Roads 75 and 1345 also lead into the city.

Religion

thumb|[[St. Paul the Apostle Church (Mechanicville, New York)|St. Paul the Apostle Church (Parish of All Saints on the Hudson)]]

While Mechanicville has historically had many religious institutions, there are currently two active churches in the city, the Catholic parish of All Saints on the Hudson, and the Mechanicville United Methodist Church.

Sports

Mechanicville is home to the Saratoga Racers of the American Basketball Association, which play their home games at the North Main Street Gym.

Notable people

  • Orie Amodeo, musician in the Lawrence Welk orchestra
  • Aida Brewer, first female treasurer of the state of New York
  • Chad Brown, Thoroughbred horse racing trainer
  • Rita Chatterton, professional wrestling referee
  • Ray Eberle, vocalist with Glenn Miller orchestra
  • Bob Eberly, vocalist with Jimmy Dorsey orchestra
  • Joe Cocozzo, professional football player and Super Bowl XXIX participant
  • Elmer E. Ellsworth, friend and law clerk to Abraham Lincoln, colonel in the Union Army, leader of the Fire Zouaves, and first conspicuous casualty of the American Civil War.
  • John R. Fellows, lawyer, politician, and Confederate soldier
  • Ray Heindorf, songwriter, composer, conductor, and arranger
  • Erika Holzer, novelist, essayist, and lawyer
  • Fred Isabella, dentist and state politician
  • John Gavin Nolan, bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the United States
  • Margaret Bloodgood Peeke, traveler, lecturer, author
  • Gordon A. Sheehan, animator for Fleischer Studios
  • Harrison B. Tordoff, ornithologist, conservationist, author, and fighter pilot
  • George Herbert Whitney, New York state assemblyman and senator

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Mechanicville had a population of 5,163. The median age was 35.8 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.3 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 2,429 households in Mechanicville, of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 27.8% were married-couple households, 23.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 37.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 40.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.