[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 20 (Tuesday, March 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
NASSAU, VILLAGE WITH SMALL TOWN FEEL, MARKS 175 YEARS AS VILLAGE IN NEW 
                                  YORK

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 1, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, Saturday, March 12, will mark the 175th 
anniversary of the incorporation of the village of Nassau, Rensselaer 
County, NY.
  Since I was elected to Congress in 1978, and even before that, since 
my election to the New York State Assembly in 1972, I have had the 
privilege of visiting the village of Nassau and its hard-working, down-
to-earth people many times. Both the village and its residents are 
reminders of those small-town virtues that have made America great.
  Originally inhabited by Algonquin Indians, the present-day village of 
Nassau lies along an Indian trail linking Kinderhook Creek with the 
lakes of Averill Park and Burden Lake. The Dutch used those same trails 
to explore the region in the first years of the 18th century.
  English, Dutch, and New England settlers first erected crude wood 
huts and then more permanent buildings at the crossroads of the Albany-
Pittsfield trail and the highway south to Columbia County. By the end 
of the 18th century, large tracts of land were leased around Nassau for 
farming, mills, and manufacturing.
  Called Union Village around the time of the Revolutionary War, the 
town of Nassau was established in 1808. Eleven years later, enough 
development led to incorporation as a village.
  Since then, the village has grown from an agricultural center to one 
of manufacturing, transportation, and industrialization. Nassau became 
the home to many foundries, bottle and shirt factories, and a piano 
factory, among other industries. Nevertheless, Nassau continued to be 
known for its fine homes and tree-lined streets. It was also the site 
of the Rensselaer County Fair.
  Part of the small town feel of Nassau is its fine architecture, with 
over 50 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 
Outstanding examples of Federal, Greek Revival, Victorian, and Queen 
Anne styles can still be found.
  It's that small town character that makes the village of Nassau so 
special to me, Mr. Speaker, and one of the reasons I prefer to go home 
every weekend.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and all Members to join me in wish a happy 
175th birthday to the village of Nassau, which has ever been true to 
its motto, ``A Progressive Village with Traditional Values.''

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