Set along the quiet south bank of the Mohawk River, Mabee Farm is the oldest standing homestead in the Mohawk Valley. The Jan Mabee Stone House, constructed around 1705, remained in the continuous care of the Mabee family for nearly three centuries. Today, operated by the Schenectady County Historical Society, this living history landmark features a massive mid-18th-century Dutch barn, working blacksmith shop, heritage heirloom gardens, and historic wooden bateaux boats.

Learn about seasonal festivals, artisan workshops, and hours on the official Schenectady County Historical Society website.

Continuously inhabited for over 300 years, the Stockade was New York State’s very first registered historic district. Described by the National Park Service as having the highest concentration of historic period homes in the nation, this riverside neighborhood includes over 40 homes built before the American Revolution. As you wander along Front, Green, and North Ferry streets, you will see intact examples of Dutch Colonial gambrel roofs, Georgian symmetry, Federal porticos, and Victorian brownstone accents.

Download self-guided walking tour maps and explore neighborhood history at the official Historic Stockade Association site.

To put the region’s architectural landmarks into full context, stop inside the Schenectady History Museum. Housed in an early-20th-century building in the Stockade, the museum features permanent collections and rotating galleries tracing local life from Haudenosaunee trade through early European settlement, the 1690 Schenectady Massacre, and the canal boom. The adjacent Grems-Doolittle Library holds rare diaries, historic land deeds, and early maps detailing original property boundaries.

Plan your visit through the official SCHS Museum & Library portal.