Mohawk River

This is just west of the city, outside of Scotia (but still in Schenectady County!) The Mohawk River played a huge part in the establishment and early years of Schenectady.

The river brought fur traders here in the 1600s and was galled the Gateway to the West in the 1700s and 1800s, especially after Governor Clinton (no relation to the former President) had the Erie Canal built across the state.

Heavy industrialisation along the river brought pollution bad enough that there were massive fish kills, advisories against eating any fish and prohibitions on swimming in it.

Nowadays, the river is getting cleaned up. You can eat the fish (not too many) and can go for a swim on a hot summer day, or go water skiing, tubing and so on. Since most of the heavy commercial traffic is gone from the river (goods go by truck now) it's become a haven for canoes, kayaks and pleasure boats.