COHOES

city, Albany county, eastern New York, U.S. It lies at the Cohoes Falls (locally called the Great Falls; 70 feet [21 metres] high) of the Mohawk River, where it tumbles into the Hudson River. Settled in 1665 by the Dutch Van Schaick family on the colonial military road between Albany (10 miles south) and Lake George, its name is of Algonquian origin and means pine tree. Growth was influenced by the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the construction of a dam at the falls, which provided abundant waterpower. An early textile centre, it has developed other manufactures, including paper products and laminates. The Van Schaick Mansion (1755) was the headquarters of General Horatio Gates during the American Revolution. Inc. 1869. Pop. (1990) 16,825; (1998 est.) 16,333.