Stockade Historic District

The Stockade Historic District is located in the northwest corner of Schenectady, New York, United States, on the banks of the Mohawk River. It is the oldest neighborhood in the city, continuously inhabited for over 300 years. Union College first held classes in a building within the district, and later it would be one of the termini of an early suspension bridge that was, at the time, the longest in North America. Elizabeth V. Gillette, a physician and the first woman from upstate New York elected to the New York State Assembly, lived in the Stockade as well.It contains a wide variety of Dutch and English 17th- and 18th-century buildings, many with later embellishments and additions. The National Park Service has described it as "the highest concentration of historic period homes in the country," with over 40 older than 200 years. The Stockade was New York's first local historic district, when it was recognized by the city council in 1962.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and its boundaries were increased slightly in 1984. The city and an active neighborhood association, the first founded in Schenectady, work to protect its historic character.GeographyThe Stockade District is a roughly wedge-shaped area at Schenectady's northwest corner, 82acre in area. It is bounded by the Mohawk on the north, the Binne Kill on the west and the former New York Central Railroad tracks, now used by Amtrak and CSX, on the east. Its southern boundary is mostly defined by the rear line of properties on the south side of Union Street, except for Washington Street, where the entire street is included all the way to State Street (NY 5), and a section of Church Street added by the boundary increase.