Vischer Ferry Historic District

Vischer Ferry is a small canal-era hamlet on the north bank of the Mohawk River in Clifton Park, about four miles east of Schenectady. Dutch settlers from Albany and Schenectady first came in the 1670s, and the community grew through a ferry period, a canal period and a later resort period. The Erie Canal, still holding water, runs through the district. Its enlargement in the 1840s set off a burst of building, and two dry docks drew boat builders and ship carpenters who put up the Greek Revival houses that define the place. Seven are temple-form residences with pillared porticoes. Earlier buildings include a brick Federal farmhouse dated 1806 with a rear wing said to be mid-18th century. Later additions include a Queen Anne house, Gothic-influenced buildings and a church with Tiffany windows. Of 64 buildings, only seventeen date from after the 1930s. The hamlet was listed because it survives so intact, with little modern intrusion, despite nearby suburban growth.