Vintage Albany County

By 1774, Albany County was the most populous county in colonial New York with over 42,000 settlers. It remained the most populous in 1790, with 75,921 inhabitants, according to the first national census. However, by 1800, its size and population diminished as Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Greene, and Columbia Counties were formed from it. Its current borders, defined by the Hudson River to the east and the Mohawk River to the north, have remained unchanged for the past two centuries.