Preservationist Tour Guide: A Day Trip to Amsterdam
Welcome to Amsterdam, NY, a small city in Montgomery County that developed along the north and south banks of the Mohawk River. Amsterdam was settled by the Dutch in the 1700s, but this land (along with much of the greater Mohawk Valley) had been the ancestral homeland of the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy for many generations before the arrival of European colonists. The city became an industrial powerhouse in the 1800s thanks in large part to the arrival of the Erie Canal. The power of the Chuctanunda Creek was harnessed for a variety of manufacturing purposes, supporting mills all along its banks. This industrial heritage can be felt throughout the city, and a post-industrial Amsterdam still has a lot to offer.
Amsterdam is a great place to spend a day whether you are passing through as you ride the Empire State Trail or are just looking for an outdoor adventure with some history mixed in. We really love a canal community, don’t you?
In this edition of Preservationist Tour Guide, the work has really been done for us thanks to the Chuctanunda Creek Trail, affectionately referred to as “The Chuck.”
This bicycle and pedestrian friendly trail includes waterfalls, bridges and dams. Nature combined with the City’s urban setting makes for a unique 8-mile loop from the Mohawk River up through the heart of the City. This mixed use recreational and educational trail leads users along various points of interest referencing history, geology, and ecology.
Here are some highlights, whether you decide to walk, bike, drive, or some combination of all three:
Just off the Canal bike path, start your tour of Amsterdam on the south side of the river at the Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook pedestrian bridge. You’ll cross over the river into downtown with great views, unique artwork, and informational signage courtesy of Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (this signage continues along the length of the Chuck).
Urban renewal projects destroyed much of the original fabric of Amsterdam’s downtown — as well as making it harder to access — but making your way north you’ll see what’s left, followed by the 1903 Amsterdam Free Library. The League provided a NYSCA-funded Preserve New York grant to the library in 2017 and the building boasts a beautiful original facade, tile floors in the entryway, and unusual wooden roll-up doors on the second floor!
At this point the trail will take you past waterfalls on the way to Amsterdam City Hall — another Preserve New York grantee! The Sanford Mansion was built in 1869 as a private residence before being turned over to the city in 1932.
Further down Church Street you’ll find the Walter Elwood Museum, a small museum with a variety of collections celebrating local history (admission is free).
Shortly after the museum, you’ll get to the greenway portion of the trail where urban scenery is traded for shady wooded trails. If you make it to the north end, you’ll find the remains of the Mohasco Powerhouse. In 2017, the League awarded a Gratz Fund grant to the City to complete a feasibility reuse study of the powerhouse. Currently an urban ruin in great need of stabilization, the Mohasco Powerhouse is a landmark of the Chuck and an important relic of Amsterdam’s heyday of carpet manufacturing. The City continues its work to figure out how best to reuse this building and make it a more integrated part of the trail experience.
Head up the hill from the powerhouse and you’ve reached the end of the trail, experiencing river views, urban waterfalls, city scenery, industrial architecture, scenic vistas, historic buildings, and nature trails, all within four miles — a morning or afternoon well spent.
One of 26 armories designed by Isaac Perry, the Amsterdam Armory was built in 1894 and decommissioned in 1994. It was the only New York armory privately owned as a residence.
Check out this video for a closer look at the Mohasco Powerhouse, and hear from Amsterdam’s Director of Community and Economic Development Amanda Bearcroft about future plans for this historic relic of the city’s industrial past.
And if you want to spend the night in Amsterdam, check out the Amsterdam Castle bed and breakfast. The former armory won an Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the League back in 2012!