About Troy, NY
Troy, NY, situated on the east bank of the Hudson River, is the county seat of Rensselaer County and one of four major cities (along with Albany, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs) that make up the region known as New York’s Captial District.
Nearly 400 years old, Troy is a city rich in history and ripe with technology. Once commonly known as The Collar City, Troy was a national manufacturing center for shirts, shirtwaists, collars and cuffs. This brought it notoriety, but its true manufacturing fortune was made in the Mid-19th Century Steel Industry. In fact, the city’s historical neighborhoods boast evidence of this today in their wrought iron fences and steel-flanked entranceways. Even more notorious, Troy was the birth place of “Uncle Sam”, a butcher that supplied the War of 1812 military with beef in barrels marked “U.S.” causing the troops to joke that it was food from Uncle Sam.
Today the city of over 49,000 is less about manufacturing and more about technology and commerce. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a nationally ranked engineering university makes its home here along with The Sage Colleges and HVCC. Programs and research at all three of these colleges has spurred the region’s leadership in the Nanoscience field, and helped to draw high-tech talent to local Rensselaer Tech Park.
Serviced by one of Amtrak’s busiest rail stations, and a short drive to the Albany International Airport, even Hollywood has taken notice of the city, capitalizing on the Victorian architecture for backdrops to movies like Ironweed and Age of Innocence.
When relaxing, Capital District residents visit Troy for chamber music at Troy Music Hall, concerts at RPI Fieldhouse, shows at NYS Theatre Institute, lectures and classes at The Art Center, or Class-A baseball with the Tri-city Valley Cats.
With so much to offer, Troy could be home to you.
