Troy, city, seat of Rensselaer County, eastern New York, a port on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, at its confluence with the Mohawk River, near Albany; settled by Dutch 1646, incorporated as a city 1816. It is situated at the head of Hudson River navigation and is the eastern terminus of the New York State Barge Canal. Shirts have been a major manufacture since the invention of detachable collars here in 1825. Garden machinery and engineering instruments are also produced. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(1824), Russell Sage College (1916), and the Emma Willard School (1821) are here. The site of the present-day city was part of a patroonship (estate) granted by the Dutch West India Company to the Van Rensselaer family in 1629. The community was laid out in 1786 and named (1789) for the ancient city of Troy. It developed as an industrial center in the early 19th century. Samuel Wilson of Troy, who helped supply beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, is said to be the original “Uncle Sam,” a nickname later applied to a figure personifying the U.S. government. During the American Civil War the city was an important producer of armaments and munitions, and from 1864 to 1873 it was a major U.S. iron- and steel-producing center. Population 56,638 (1980); 54,269 (1990); 49,170 (2000).
