142 M. RENSSELAER, Pop, 10,823.
(Train 51 passes 11:30; No. 3, 12:02; No. 41, 4:12; No. 25, 5:44; No. 19, 8:53. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 6:00; No. 26, 6:32; No. 16, 12:27; No. 22, 2:07.)
Rensselaer, originally called Greenbush, lies directly across from Albany. It was first settled in 1631 and the site formed part of a large tract of land bought from the Indians by agents of Killiaen Van Rensselaer. On the lower edge of the town Ft. Cralo,* built in 1642 for protection against the Indians, still stands; the fort has a special interest in being connected with the origin of Yankee Doodle.
Some writers claim that Cralo is the oldest fort still preserved in the U.S. Its white oak beams are said to be 18 inches square; its walls are 2 to 3 ft. thick, and some of the old portholes still remain. According to tradition there were once secret passages connecting the fort with the river. About 1770, during the French and Indian Wars, Maj. James Abercrombie had his headquarters here.
Yankee Doodle is said to have been composed at the fort by Dr. Schuckburgh, a British surgeon, as a satire on the provincial troops, who did not show to advantage among the smartly dressed British soldiers. The Yankees, however, adopted the words and the tune, and less than 20 years later the captured soldiers of Burgoyne marched behind the lines of the victorious Continentals to the same melody.
Albany from Van Rensselaer Island in 1831