Henry Hudson, with the support of 18 crew members on the small ship Half Moon, was the first explorer to venture up the 'River" from Manhattan. Commissioned by the Dutch East India Company in 1609 to report on the new world, Hudson told of the magnificent river, and the bounty of Albany, then known as Fort Orange.
The Dutch ignored Hudson's observations until 1613, when the East India Company sent five more vessels on Hudson's course. This time, the aggressive explorers set about gathering proof of the region's assets, mostly in the form of impressive furs.
In 1621 the Dutch established the colony of New Netherland, with the intent of developing trading posts in Manhattan, and in Albany. A few years later 18 French Huguenot families, along with soldiers and traders, settled in Fort Orange.
Fort Orange remained in Dutch control, with nearly 10,000 settlers, until 1664 when the English sailed over in four warships. They easily took control of Manhattan, and then ventured up the river to capture Fort Orange for "His Majesty". Fort Orange was renamed to honor the Duke of Albany, and in 1686 the British granted Albany a founding charter as a city.
Although officially under the jurisdiction of the Crown, Dutch merchants retained control over Albany's lucrative fur trade. Albany developed as a valuable source of contact between the British, the French, and the Iroquois under the guidance of the Dutch.
The Dutch also continued to farm the fertile land on the banks of the Hudson, although an increasing number of Scottish, Irish, and British immigrants were attracted to the farmland.
Strategically, Albany served as a staging area during the French and Indian Wars, and a battleground for the colonists, and the British invaders, during the British Northern Campaign of the American Revolution. The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 is said to be the turning point of the Revolution.
Due to its status as the transportation hub of the northeast, Albany was named the capital of New York State in 1797. With the extensive network of roadways that spanned out from the city's center, and the riverside location, Albany was the envy of many colonies in the 18th century.
The fiscal devastation wrought from the War of 1812 was later over-come when the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, providing a gateway to the west. The Canal, by joining the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, made the Port of New York a point of entry for many European immigrants, as well as creating a valuable route for the trade of raw materials. The construction of the Canal attracted a tremendous workforce that provided the impetus for growth in the small towns, and villages along the Canal. Even after the Canal was completed, the region continued to draw workers to service the trade that was generated on the Canal.
The Canal provided a means of distribution for the abundant resource of the Adirondacks and the Mohawk Valley. With the development of the New York Central Railroad, headquartered here, Albany became firmly established as a solid industrial center well into the 20th century.