Watervliet Street Name Changes

For those researching their ancestors in Watervliet, New York, the following information may be helpful; especially if one wants to find the actual house that their ancestors lived in long ago. This data comes to me in a file that I collected a few years ago but I cannot recall its source. It is edited and revised by me.

Today's city of Watervliet once consisted of three villages that merged to form Watervliet. (1) Washington, was located from First Street to the south wall of the Arsenal. (2) Gibbonsville, was located from the the north wall of the Arsenal to 15th Street. (3) West Troy, was located from 15th Street to 27th Street. In 1888 a street plan was incorporated to where streets ran East and West and avenues ran North and South. Below is a list of present streets and avenues and their former names.

Present Name:     Former Name:
1st Street              South Street
2nd Street             South Canal Street
3rd Street              Athol Street
4th Street              Earl Street
5th Street              Mill Street
6th Street              Spring Street
7th Street              Middle Street
8th Street              Mansion Street
9th Street              Berlin Street
10th Street            Shaker Road
11th Street            Charlotte Street
12th Street            George Street
13th Street            Schenectady Street
14th Street            Ferry Street
15th Street            Buffalo Street
16th Street            Canal Street
17th Street            Huron Street
18th Street            Geneva Street

Gibbonsville Burying Grounds

The Gibbonsville or Arsenal Burying Grounds were originally located on property now owned by the Watervliet Arsenal.  From viewing old maps of West Troy, I believe that this cemetery was located just north of the present day Valente's Restaurant which is just south of the Arsenal, today.

An early settler of that area, James Gibbons, sold a parcel of land to the United States government for the creation of the Arsenal in 1813; to support the fight against the British during the War of 1812. As time passed the Arsenal grew in size and as they needed more land the Arsenal acquired the land on which the "old burying grounds" were located.

The grave stones and bodies were removed and re-buried in section 100 of the Albany Rural Cemetery. Approximately 300 bodies were re-interned around 1918.  The majority of the stones were laid flat on the ground with only a handful being re-installed upright.  Over the years the ground has reclaimed just about all of the stones that were laid flat.  They have sunk into the ground and have been covered with dirt, grass, and leaves over the years.

About twenty years ago my wife and I took it upon ourselves to locate the grave site of one of my ancestors, Samuel Hitchcock, who was originally buried in the Arsenal Burying Grounds.  All of the stones were buried over with grass but with using a plot map from the cemetery we were able to pull the sod up and locate the grave stones.

Site of Samuel & Mary Hitchcock's gravestones

I recently went back to Albany Rural Cemetery with a plan to reclaim my ancestor's grave stone.  After twenty years, the ground again had covered the grave stones.  Twenty years ago is quite a while and my memory did not let me recall how deep the grave stones had actually sunk into the earth.  The lower part of them were at least six to seven inches deep.

Initial excavation of grave stones

It would be unsafe for the stones and for anyone walking over them in the condition that were.  Unlevel and with a huge divot missing from the ground.  Therefore I decided to completely remove the stones and place the earth which was on top of them underneath them.  I also brought out some leveling sand to make sure that the were level. The stones were placed back into the ground so that they were about 3/4" of an inch below the grade level.

Cleaned, raised, and leveled grave stones

As time passes, they will again be covered over with dirt but not to the extent that they were previously. The stones were cleaned with D/2 cleaning solution and rinsed with water.  The stones look almost brand new considering they are from the late 1820s & early 1830s.

Samuel & Mary Hitchcock

On an ending note, in between the time that I did the initial excavation of the stones and re-laid them, which was 3 days.  Someone came with the same intentions that I had regarding uncovering a stone.  The only difference was they left clumps of sod all over the place.  It looked terrible and I am sure that the cemetery would not be appreciative of their efforts.  I removed and disposed the sod that was left.  Anyone who attempts a project such as this, please make sure that the grounds are in the same condition as before you started.