Fort Crailo and the Van Rensselaers: The Dutch Colonial Origins of Greenbush & the City of Rensselaer

by Shirley W. Dunn

Illustrated history of the 1663 Fort Crailo built across the Hudson River from Fort Orange (today's Albany, New York) as protection and refuge for the early Dutch settlers living on the east side of the river. Performing the dual function of farmhouse and fort surrounded by a tall wooden palisade, Crailo survived King Philip s War, the French and Indian wars, and the Revolution. For over a century, armies camped on its grounds as they made their way to and from the battles, and it was at Crailo that a British Army surgeon penned the lyrics to Yankee Doodle. When peace finally came, generations of Van Rensselaers enlarged the little fort into a mansion overlooking their 1,500-acre farm that sprawled along the east bank, sowing the seeds for the future Village of Greenbush and the City of Rensselaer. Derelict and shuttered by the late 1800s, Crailo State Historic Site today a museum of Dutch colonial life in New York stands as a rare victory of historic preservation.

Genres: History

208 pages, Paperback

Published March 28, 2016

Reviews

[Daniel Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well researched and contains a fascinating amount of information for a small, out of the way, area dating back to the 1600s. The author did a fantastic job in getting this information. That said, it's a pretty dry topic and with as much information that was obtained there are significant gaps and/or unknowns. While this is not the fault of the author, it does make for a slow and grinding read. However, I would recommend this book to anyone who lives in the City of Rensselaer to gain a background history and appreciation.

[W M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine piece for any avid fan of New Netherland or the following English Manorial system in the Hudson Valley, Crailo or “Crow’s Wood” was a Rensselaer Family property and now is a NYS Historic site.

[Mike Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good fact based local history of area on the east of Albany, NY