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(, i.e., "water-vleet") is a city in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 10,207 as of the 2000 census.
is north of Albany, New York and is at the east border of the Town of Colonie. The city is also known as "the Arsenal City." Watervliet is also the home of Gus' Hot Dogs, a famous local eatery.
The explorer Henry Hudson arrived in the area of Watervliet around 1609. The area was first settled in 1643 as part of the Rensselaerwyck Patroonship (see: Kiliaen Van Rensselaer).
In 1774, the Shakers settled in the Watervliet region. The town of Watervliet was founded in 1788 and included all of the county except Albany. The location of the future city was taken by the incorporated village of West Troy in 1836, and the unincorporated villages of Port Schuyler and Gibbonsville. The city of Watervliet was incorporated in 1896 after the rest of the town became the Town of Colonie and town of Green Island in 1897. Because so many towns had been created from the town of Watervliet, it is regarded as the "mother of towns" in the county.
The Watervliet Arsenal, founded in 1813, is the oldest Federal arsenal in the country; it is the sole manufacturing facility for large caliber cannon.
The junction of the main route of the Erie Canal to Buffalo and the Lake Champlain branch was in Watervliet, and a weigh station and a center for paying canal boat operators was located there; as a result, it was once famous for gambling, saloons, and prostitution.
The current mayor of Watervliet is Michael Manning, elected to his first term in 2007. Mr. Manning, a Democrat, defeated incumbent mayor Robert Carlson in a rare Democratic primary election in September 2007. Mr. Carlson had served as mayor of Watervliet for ten years.