Watervliet, New York

Watervliet ( or ) is a city in northeastern Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 10,375 as of the 2020 census. Watervliet is north of Albany, the capital of the state, and is bordered on the north, west, and south by the town of Colonie. The city is also known as "the Arsenal City".

History

The explorer Henry Hudson arrived in the area of Watervliet around 1609. The area was first settled in 1643 as part of the Rensselaerswyck patroonship, under the direction of Kiliaen van Rensselaer. In 1710, Derrick van der Heyden operated a ferry from the Bleeker Farm (near 16th Street) across the Hudson River to Troy. Troops during the Revolutionary War used this ferry in 1777 on their way to Bemis Heights and Stillwater for the Battle of Saratoga. In 1786, a second ferry was started at Ferry Street (today 14th Street) over to Troy. The town of Watervliet was founded in 1788 and included all of present-day Albany County except what was in the city of Albany at the time. Because so many towns had been created from the town of Watervliet, it is regarded as the "mother of towns" in the county. In 1816, as the first post office was erected, corner of River and Ferry streets (Broadway and 14th Street), it took the name Watervliet. The farm owned by John Bleeker, stretching north from Buffalo Street (Broadway and 15th Street) to the farm owned by the Oothout family near 25th Street was purchased by Philip Schuyler, Isais Warren, Richard P. Hart, Nathan Warren, and others in 1823; they named it West Troy. Gibbonsville was the farm of James Gibbons (which he purchased in 1805), which stretched from North Street (8th Street) to Buffalo Street (15th Street). A weigh station and a center for paying canal boat operators was here as well. As a result of canal boat crews being paid at the end of their trip, the areas around the side cut was once famous for gambling, saloons, and prostitution; there were more than 25 saloons within two blocks,

Also linking Watervliet to the transportation network of the region was the Watervliet Turnpike and the Albany and Northern Railway. The Watervliet Turnpike Company in 1828 built present-day New York State Route 32 from the northern boundary of Albany north to the northern limit of Gibbonsville (now Broadway and 15th Street).

The Ohio Street Methodist Episcopal Church Complex, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, Watervliet Arsenal, and Watervliet Side Cut Locks are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Patrick's Church controversy

thumb|right|St. Patrick Church as it appeared in 2012.

In September 2011, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany decided to close St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, citing physical deterioration of the building. The parish was merged with Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, and was unable to afford the estimated $4 million cost to rehabilitate the building. St. Patrick's Church was the tallest point in the city. The church was closely modeled on the Upper Basilica in Lourdes, and many Watervliet residents considered it a defining piece and landmark of the city's architecture.

In March 2012, a developer filed a proposal to rezone the property from residential to business status so that it could raze the church (as well as an attached rectory, former school building, and six private residences) in order to make way for a Price Chopper grocery store. Some members of the community responded to the proposal to raze the church with criticism and legal challenges, but on November 20, 2012, the Watervliet City Council voted unanimously to allow the rezoning. The deconstruction of the church was completed in May 2013, and a new Price Chopper supermarket opened on the site in July 2014.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 8.79%, is water.

|footnote=Notes: Census numbers for 1840 to 1890 are for the village of West Troy (incorporated 1836), which became the city of Watervliet in 1896.<br/>*1880 US census was not considered accurate and estimates put population at roughly 11,000*

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Watervliet had a population of 10,375. The median age was 36.2 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.2 males age 18 and over.

There were 4,870 households in Watervliet, of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 23.7% were married-couple households, 26.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 38.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 40.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 6,781 || 65.4%

| Black or African American || 1,632 || 15.7%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 33 || 0.3%

| Asian || 522 || 5.0%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 1 || 0.0%

| Some other race || 350 || 3.4%

| Two or more races || 1,056 || 10.2%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 863 || 8.3%

Income and poverty

The median income for a household in the city was $46,345. 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.7% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Richard B. Bates, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Butch Byrd, defensive back, Buffalo Bills
T/Sgt. Peter J. Dalessandro, Medal of Honor recipient
Melique García, Olympic sprinter
Rebecca Cox Jackson (1795–1871), African-American freedwoman, Shaker, itinerant minister, and spiritual autobiographer
Isaac J. Lansing, president of Clark Atlanta University, pastor, author
Francis W. Martin (1878-1947), first District Attorney of the Bronx
Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University, lawyer, president of Southern Pacific Railroad