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Albany, New York

Population: 105,000
Located in Albany County

Albany is the capital of New York State. This community has a white-collar appearance due to the large number of politicians that congregate in the area during political campaigns. Albany also hosts an annual Tulip Festival in Washington Park. The city lies on the west bank of the Hudson River and is a port of entry for the northern Hudson River Channel as well as the transshipment point between ocean-going vessels and the New York State Barge Canal routes west to the Great Lakes.

Albany (originally known as Fort Orange, in 1664 renamed "Albany" to honor the Duke of York and Albany)- founded 1609, "capital (1797) of the state of New York, U.S., and seat (1683) of Albany county. It lies along the Hudson River, 143 miles (230 km) north of New York City. The heart of a metropolitan area that includes Troy and Schenectady, it is a port of entry, the northern terminus of the deepwater Hudson River Channel, and a natural transshipment point between ocean-going vessels and the New York State Barge Canal routes west to the Great Lakes... [Its] Dutch heritage is reflected in many street names and in the annual (May) Tulip Festival held in Washington Park. In 1689 one of the first intercontinental conventions was held in Albany to discuss a system of mutual defense... The city was one of the first in the U.S. to establish a commercial airport (1919)." It is also a site of the first railroad in America that ran between Albany and Schenectady, a distance of 11 miles.

Five days after the Declaration of Independence, the people of New York met in convention in Kingston to vote their support and form their own state government. Although their state was the scene of nearly a third of the battles fought in the American Revolution, and their major port and city was occupied, New Yorkers still managed to supply large quantities of food, clothing, lead and iron to General Washington, as well as to serve valiantly in the Continental Army. New Yorkers saw the christening of the American flag when the Stars and Stripes was first flown in battle at the defense of Ft. Stanwix in Rome. The Colony of New York became a state on April 20, 1777 with the adoption of its first constitution-12 years before the Federal Constitution. After the adoption of the Federal Constitution, New York City was chosen to be the nation's first capital and was the site of the inauguration of George Washington as President on April 30, 1789.

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