Troy, a city of New York, capital of Rens-selaer co., on the E. bank of the Hudson river, at the head of steamboat navigation, and also at the head of tide water, 151 m. by the course of the river N. of New York city, and 6 m. N. of Albany; pop. in 1840, 19,334; in 1850, 28,785; in 1860, 39,235; in 1870, 46,465, of whom 16,219 were foreigners, including 10,877 Irish, 1,699 British Americans, 1,576 English, and 1,174 Germans; in 1875, 48,821. The surface of the city comprises the alluvial flats three fourths of a mile wide on the river, and the hills on the east known as Mt. Ida. Wynant's Kill on the south, and Poesten Kill ½ m. N., break through these hills in narrow ravines and in a series of cascades, the former furnishing 12 mill sites with 2,000 horse power, the latter 10 sites with 1,000 horse power; while the state dam across the Hudson, at the N. part of the city, furnishes 4,000 horse power. There is also an immense amount of steam power in use. The pure water with which the city is supplied by the Troy water works is drawn from Piscawin creek into reservoirs high enough to carry the water to the top of most of the houses. A new city hall, costing $150,000, is in course of construction.

The savings bank building is an elegant edifice, costing $450,060, and there are several fine business structures. Troy is situated at the principal outlet of the Erie and Champlain canals, and is connected with Lake Champlain and the north by the Rensselaer and Saratoga, and Troy and Boston railroads, the latter connecting it with the east also; with the west by the New York Central railroad; with the south by the Hudson River railroad; and with the east by the Boston and Albany railroad.

There is a daily line of steamers to New York in summer. In the centre of the city is the union railroad depot, one of the largest structures of the kind in the United States, 404 by 240 ft., with walls at the sides 27 ft. high supporting the roof in a single arch. All the railroad lines centre at this depot, and 60 trains arrive at or depart from it daily. The river is spanned by a bridge 1,600 ft. long, which is provided with two carriageways, a railway, and a walk for foot passengers, and also by a new iron bridge for pedestrians and carriages, costing $250,000. - The iron manufactures of Troy are of great importance, and by means of them the city has become a controlling point in the iron interest on this side of the Alleghany mountains. One of the largest manufacturing establishments of the country is the Albany and Rensselaer iron and steel company, which owns the Albany iron works, the Rensselaer iron works, Bessemer steel works, the Fort Edward blast furnace, and the Hudson blast furnace. The company employs 1,500 hands, and produces pig iron, merchant and angle iron, merchant steel, nails and spikes, axles, bolts and nuts, boiler rivets, iron and steel rails, horse shoes, etc.

The Burden iron works, established in 1813, have an annual capacity of 40,000 tons, and employ 1,400 hands, producing pig iron, merchant iron, horse and mule shoes, and boiler rivets. The other iron manufactures of the city are carried on by more than 30 firms, and consist of stoves, hollow ware, hot air furnaces, machinery, steam engines, scythes, shovels, malleable iron, safes, butts, hinges, steel springs, agricultural implements, etc. The Troy stamping works manufacture stamped and pressed wares, coal hods, shovels, dampers, etc. The Troy car works are at Green Island, a suburb on the opposite side of the river. The annual product of the shirt and collar (linen and paper) business, which is more extensive here than anywhere else in the United States, and employs more than 30 factories, is valued at $3,000,000, requiring the labor of 6,000 hands, chiefly women. The largest manufactory of mathematical instruments in the United States is in this city, as is also one of the largest of the few American globe manufactories. There are brass founderies, breweries, two distilleries, two bell founderies, a cotton mill, carriage factories, a manufactory of stoneware, and several of boots and shoes, fire brick, and hosiery.

The total annual value of the manufactures of Troy is about $10,000,-000. The lumber trade is important. There are ten national banks, with an aggregate capital of $2,800,000, of which four have savings departments; a state bank, with $300,000 capital; and a savings bank, established in 1823. - The city is divided, into 13 wards, and is-governed by a mayor and a board of 26 aldermen. It has horse railroads and a good fire department. The assessed value of property in 1874 was $15,441,845. The taxation for city purposes was $575,801 25; for state and county purposes, $284,125 22. The total funded debt was $1,226,000; net debt, less sinking fund, etc, $738,550. The principal charitable institutions are the church home, Presbyterian church home, home for aged poor, Troy Catholic male orphan asylum, Troy orphan asylum, Troy hospital, Marshall infirmary, and home of the "Little Sisters of the Poor." The public schools embrace a high school and 15 ward schools, and have an annual enrolment of about 8,000 pupils and an average attendance of 4,500. The expenditure for school purposes is from $125,000 to $150,000 a year.

The Troy female seminary, removed from Middlebury, Vt., to Troy in 1821, gained a national reputation under the charge of its founder, Mrs. Emma Willard; it was discontinued in 1870. The Rensselaer polytechnic institute, endowed by Stephen Van Rensselaer, was organized in 1824, for the purpose of teaching the application of mathematics to civil engineering and the natural sciences, and has in its special depart-mants a high reputation. In 1874-'5 it had 13 instructors, 170 students, and a library of 3,000 volumes. St. Joseph's theological seminary of the province of New York, a Roman Catholic institution, was founded at Ford-ham in 1841, and removed to Troy in 1864. In 1874-5 it had 6 professors, 126 students, and a library of 8,000 volumes. The Troy young men's association for mutual improvement has a valuable library of 19,000 volumes, and a reading room. It occupies a part of the beautiful freestone building known as the Athenaeum, in which is also the post office. Three daily and five weekly newspapers are published.

There are 50 churches, viz.: 6 Baptist, 1 Church of Christ, 8 Episcopal, 3 Jewish, 1 Lutheran, 9 Methodist, 11 Presbyterian, 9 Roman Catholic, 1 Unitarian, and 1 Universal-ist. - The first house of any note on the site of Troy was built by Matthias Vanderheyden in 1752, and is still standing on the S. E. corner of River and Division streets. Between 1786 and 1790 the tract was surveyed and laid out, with streets running at right angles excepting where such plan was interfered with by the course of the river. Hitherto the place had been variously known as Vanderheyden's ferry, Ferry hook, and Ashley's ferry; but on Jan. 5, 1789, the name Troy was adopted. At this time it Contained five small stores and about a dozen dwellings. The first village charter was adopted in 1791. This was superseded by another on Feb. 16, 1798, and the village was formally incorporated by state acts passed April 2, 1801, and April 9, 1805. The city charter was granted April 12, 1816. Troy has suffered by three great fires: June. 20, 1820, 98 buildings, loss $490,000; Aug. 25, 1854, 300 buildings, loss $1,000,000; and May 10, 1862, 671 buildings, loss $3,000,000.