Albany County, New York
The city of Albany was the first municipality within this large county, founded as the village (dorp in Dutch) of Beverwyck by the Director-General of New Amsterdam, Pieter Stuyvesant, who also established the first court in Albany. Albany was established as a city in 1686 by Governor Dongan through the Dongan Charter after the English took over the colony. Schenectady to the west was given a patent with some municipal rights in 1684 and became a borough in 1765.
History of Albany, New York (1784–1860)
After the American Revolution, Albany began to grow both physically and commercially, but also culturally. The first post office in Albany was established in 1784 on the east side of Broadway, north of Maiden Lane. In 1785 the Common Council ordered to change the names of any streets that seemed to "savor of the English rule" and Fort Frederick was demolished, which allowed for further expansion of the city to the west. Also in 1785, the sloop Experiment left Albany for China, being only the second American ship to go to China, and the first expressly built for that purpose. A regular schedule of comedic acts were performed for several months in 1786, the first time comedians performed in Albany. John Lansing Jr. became mayor in that year as well.