Clarksville | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 42°34′33″N73°57′50″W / 42.57583°N 73.96389°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
County | Albany |
Town | Town of New Scotland |
Area | |
• Total | 2.7 sq mi (7 km2) |
Elevation | 663 ft (202 m) |
Population (2014)For ZIP Code 12041 | |
• Total | 153 [1] |
• Density | 56.7/sq mi (21.9/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 12041 |
Area code(s) | 518 |
GNIS feature ID | 946794 [2] |
FIPS code | 36-15979 |
Formerly | West Bethlehem |
Clarksville is a hamlet in the town of New Scotland, Albany County, New York, United States. It is situated along Delaware Turnpike (New York State Route 443) in the southern part of the town at the foot of the Helderberg Escarpment. It is the site of the Clarksville Cave and has an annual Clarksville Heritage Day and Car Show. It is in the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company fire protection district.
In 1805, the Albany and Delaware Turnpike was constructed through what would later become Clarksville. Since this place was halfway between Albany and Rensselaerville, Clarksville became a popular place for travelers to stop. Several inns, taverns, and other businesses were quickly established. Clarksville was originally the site of the Bethlehem post office, it being a part of that town until the establishment of the town of New Scotland. The post office and hamlet were later named Clarksville for Adam A. Clark, who came to the area in 1822. In 1853, the Reformed Church of Clarksville was established and a church built, and the Methodist church in 1860–1. In 1854, a plank road was built from Clarksville north and east to Feura Bush and Bethlehem Center to connect with the Albany and Bethlehem Turnpike to Albany. [3] Clarksville was once the largest settlement in the town of New Scotland, until the convergence of railroads in Voorheesville in the late 19th century led to a boom in the north part of town. [3] [4] [5]
Clarksville is situated in the southern portion of the town of New Scotland, along Delaware Turnpike (New York State Route 443) east of and at the foot of the Helderberg Escarpment. Albany County Route 301 leads south to Tarrytown, Route 443 leads east to Unionville and west to the town of Berne. The Onesquethaw Creek flows east along the south side of Route 443. The Clarksville ZIP Code (12041) is roughly a triangle with Stove Pipe Road on the western side and Upper Flat Rock Road as the eastern side. Bennett Hill Road and Plank Road are approximately the southern base of the triangle. [6] Bennett Hill, 400 feet higher than the hamlet, towers over it to the south and west. The top of the hill is a plateau at an average height of 1120 feet above sea level, with the highest point being 1135 feet. The hill is part of a wilderness preserve owned by the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy. [7]
Clarksville Cave has three entrances and 4,800 feet of passages. Owned by the Northeastern Cave Conservancy Inc. and open to the public, the cave is the most actively used noncommercial cave system in the United States. First discovered in the 19th century, access was unrestricted until 2004, when the conservancy purchased two of the three entrances and began regulating access. [8]
Clarksville celebrates annually the Clarksville Heritage Day and Car Show the first Saturday every August. It is sponsored by the Clarksville Historical Society. [9] [10]
Clarksville is a part of the Bethlehem Central School District (BCSD) and the children attend either Slingerlands or Eagle Elementary Schools for kindergarten through fifth grade; and Bethlehem Central Middle School and Bethlehem Central High School for sixth through twelfth.
Bethlehem is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The town's population was 33,656 at the 2010 census. Bethlehem is located immediately to the south of the City of Albany. Bethlehem includes the following hamlets: Delmar, Elsmere, Glenmont, North Bethlehem, Selkirk, Slingerlands, and South Bethlehem. U.S. Route 9W passes through the town. The town is named after the biblical Bethlehem.
Guilderland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 2010 census, the town had a population of 35,303. The town is named for the Gelderland province in the Netherlands. The town of Guilderland is on the central-northwest border of the county. It is just west of Albany, the capital of the U.S. state of New York.
New Scotland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 8,648 at the 2010 census.
East Greenbush is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of Albany, New York. The population was 16,473 at the 2010 census. The word Greenbush is derived from the Dutch het groen bosch, referring to the pine woods that originally covered the land. The first settlement of the land now known as East Greenbush was made by tenants under patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer circa 1630. The town was established in 1855 as Clinton, and was renamed in 1858. It is mostly suburban along its major highways and rural in the southwestern and northeastern corners.
New York State Route 32 (NY 32) is a north–south state highway that extends for 176.73 miles (284.42 km) through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with few divided and no limited-access sections. From Harriman to Albany, it is closely parallel to Interstate 87 (I-87) and U.S. Route 9W (US 9W), overlapping with the latter in several places.
New York State Route 85 (NY 85) is a state highway in Albany County, New York, in the United States. It is 26.49 miles (42.63 km) in length and runs from CR 353 in Rensselaerville to Interstate 90 (I-90) exit 4 in Albany. It also has a loop route, NY 85A, which connects NY 85 to the village of Voorheesville. The portion of NY 85 north of NY 140 to the Bethlehem–Albany town/city line is known as the Slingerlands Bypass. From there north to I-90, the road is a limited-access, four-lane highway named the Crosstown Arterial.
New York State Route 443 (NY 443) is an east–west state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. The route begins at an intersection with NY 30 in the town of Schoharie and ends 33.44 miles (53.82 km) later at a junction with U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) and US 20 in the city of Albany. It ascends the Helderberg Escarpment in the towns of Berne and New Scotland. Within the town of Bethlehem and the city of Albany, NY 443 is known as Delaware Avenue.
Slingerlands is a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York, United States. It is located immediately west of Delmar and near the New Scotland town-line and south of the Albany city-limits, and is thus a suburb of Albany. The Slingerlands ZIP Code (12159) includes parts of the towns of New Scotland and Guilderland.
Elsmere is a hamlet of the town of the Bethlehem in Albany County, New York, United States. The hamlet is a suburb of the neighboring city of Albany. From the northeast to the southwest, it is bisected by New York Route 443, which is also the hamlet's main street and a major commuter route into Albany. Delaware Avenue is also home to most of the office and retail locations in Elsmere, including the largest such location: Delaware Plaza.
New York State Route 156 (NY 156) is a state highway in Albany County, New York. NY 156 begins at a junction with NY 443 in the town of Berne. Serving the hamlet of Knox and the village of Altamont, NY 156 soon reaches the town of Voorheesville and ends at a junction with NY 85A.
The neighborhoods of Albany, New York are listed below.
Feura Bush is a hamlet in the town of New Scotland, Albany County, New York, United States. It is in the southeastern corner of the town, along the Bethlehem town-line, eight miles south of Albany. The Feura Bush ZIP Code (12067) includes parts of the town of Bethlehem. It is in the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company fire protection district.
The streets of Albany, New York have had a long history going back almost 400 years. Many of the streets have changed names over the course of time, some have changed names many times. Some streets no longer exist, others have changed course. Some roads existed only on paper. The oldest streets were haphazardly laid out with no overall plan until Simeon De Witt's 1794 street grid plan. The plan had two grids, one west of Eagle Street and the old stockade, and another for the Pastures District south of the old stockade.
Normansville is a former hamlet in Albany County, New York, United States. In the 19th century, Normansville was a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem. Normansville was located within and along the north and south banks of the ravine carved by the Normans Kill Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River.
Kenwood was a hamlet in the Town of Bethlehem, New York. The hamlet spanned both sides of the Normans Kill near the area where the Normans Kill flows into the Hudson River. In 1870, and again in 1910, northern portions of Kenwood were annexed by the City of Albany, New York.
South Bethlehem is a hamlet in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York, United States. The hamlet sits on New York State Route 396 and lies southwest of the Selkirk Rail Yard and just north of the Coeymans town line.
New Salem is a hamlet in the town of New Scotland, Albany County, New York, United States. It is located in a valley at the foot of the Helderberg Escarpment along New York State Route 85. A local fair and car show is held every year in this small hamlet. It is also home to the town of New Scotland's community center and museum.
Coeymans Creek is a 7.3-mile-long (11.7 km) tributary of the Hudson River in Albany County, New York in the United States.
Onesquethaw Creek is a 14.5-mile-long (23.3 km) creek in Albany County, New York. It is a tributary of the Hudson River. It rises in the town of New Scotland, to the west of the hamlet of New Salem, in the Helderberg Mountains, and flows to Coeymans Creek in the town of Bethlehem, southwest of Delmar.
The Helderberg Escarpment, also known as the Helderberg Mountains, is an escarpment in eastern New York, United States, roughly 11 miles (18 km) west of the city of Albany. The escarpment is the northeastern extremity of the Allegheny Plateau. It rises steeply from the Hudson Valley below, with an elevation difference of approximately 700 feet over a horizontal distance of approximately 2,000 feet. Much of the escarpment is within John Boyd Thacher State Park, and has views of the Hudson Valley and the Capital District.