Roessleville, New York

Roessleville is a hamlet in the town of Colonie, Albany County, New York. It is a densely settled suburb of the city of Albany along New York State Route 5. Roessleville was a census-designated place in the 1990 Census, but was deleted in 2000,[1] but became a CDP again in 2020.[2]

Roessleville
hamlet and CDP
Etymology: for Theophilus Roessle
Roessleville Location of Roessleville within the state of New York
Coordinates: 42°41′42″N 73°48′27″W
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Capital District
County	Albany
Settled	1840
Area
• Total	2.89 sq mi (7.5 km^2)
• Land	2.88 sq mi (7.5 km^2)
• Water	.01 sq mi (0.03 km^2)
Elevation	243 ft (74 m)
Population  (1990)
• Total	10,753
• Density	3,700/sq mi (1,400/km^2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	12205
Area code(s)	518

History

Originally Roessleville was part of the Pine Bush pine barrens that stretched from Albany to Schenectady, the land later became farmland in the 1940s and then more recently into a densely packed suburb.[3] Roessleville is named for Theophilus Roessle, a German immigrant from the Kingdom of Württemberg, who built one of the most elegant mansions in the Albany area in what is now Roessleville, today's Elmhurst Avenue was once his gated driveway.[3][4] Two of the most famous residents of Roessleville was Josiah and Elizabeth Stanford; parents of Governor of California Leland Stanford; who moved the entire family here in 1840 and owned the Elm Grove Farm and hotel.[5]

Geography

Roessleville is that section of the town of Colonie between Osborne and Wolf roads, it is bisected by Central Avenue (NY Route 5).[3] The Albany city line is along its southeastern border, the village of Colonie is along its northwestern boundary at Wolf Road. The census-designated place of Roessleville, as defined by the US Census Bureau for 1990, was 2.9 square miles (7.5 km²) in area.[6]

Location

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1970	5,476		—
1980	11,685		113.4%
1990	10,753		−8.0%

Since hamlets are by definition ill-defined any attempt at accurate calculations of population related statistics will be difficult or inaccurate. As a census-designated place (CDP) prior to 2000 however Roessleville did have definitive boundaries, though they did change over time from one census to another. Roessleville was not a CDP in 1960, but was in 1970 when it had 5,476 persons which included 125 in a small slice of the town of Guilderland;[7] the Guilderland section was not included in 1980,[8] and in 1990 Roessleville had a population of 10,753.[6]

References

1. 2000 census of population and housing: Population and housing unit counts, Issues 19-23. United States Bureau of the Census. 2003.
2. "State of New York Census Designated Places - Current/BAS20 - Data as of January 1, 2019". tigerweb.geo.census.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
3. Frances Ingraham (September 11, 1994). "Roessleville Evolved from Pine Bush, Farmland". Albany Times Union. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
4. George Howell and Jonathan Tenney (1886). Bi-Centennial History of Albany: History of the County of Albany from 1609-1886. W.W. Munsell and Company. p. 935. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
5. Schenectady County Historical Society (2009). Niskayuna. Arcadia Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-7385-6536-1. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
6. "Table 5: Land Area and Population Density: 1990" (PDF). US Bureau of the Census. p. 39. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
7. 1970 Population: Volume 1; Characteristics of the Population. US Census of the Bureau. 1970. p. 3423.
8. 1980 Census of Population; Volume 1: Characteristics of the Population. US Bureau of the Census. 1980. p. 34–10. Retrieved 2010-02-13.