BlockBefore

Rotterdam, New York

33 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Rotterdam town. It lies in ZIP code area 12306. The Survey maps it on the Schenectady quadrangle. 22,968 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 338 feet above sea level.

Rotterdam within Schenectady County

Then and now

1893 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 96 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Rotterdam, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Rotterdam, surveyed 1893

On record in Rotterdam

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Rotterdam grew from 20,652 to 22,968 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201020,652
202022,968+2,316 (+11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

16 surveys from 33 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

669 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 669 fires within 5 miles of Rotterdam between 1995 and 2020, burning about 472 acres in total. 38 started naturally. 160 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined328
Arson/incendiarism160
Smoking56
Debris and open burning41
Natural38
Misuse of fire by a minor21
Equipment and vehicle use14
Power generation/transmission/distribution8
Recreation and ceremony2
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2010Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
9 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
8 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
8 September 2003Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
7 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New YorkNA
7 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Schenectady County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Rotterdam: 5 producers, 5 past producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Guilderland PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Leto Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Masic PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Olivers PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
South PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Stitts Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Stitts Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Vley PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Vley PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Wagner PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Schenectady County

Storms near this place

26 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rotterdam in 26 storm reports between 1993 and 2022: 15 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 flood, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2001Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$31,000no account filed
August 2002Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$25,000no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$22,000no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$20,000no account filed
June 2009Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$10,000A tree fell onto the side of a house on Vischer Avenue in Schenectady due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2008LightningRotterdam$10,000Lightning struck a tree approximately 2 miles northwest of Rotterdam, resulting in downed powerlines.
May 2001HailRotterdam$10,000no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$10,000no account filed
May 2002Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$8,000no account filed
April 1994Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$5,000no account filed
August 1993Thunderstorm WindRotterdam$5,000no account filed
August 2003Flash FloodRotterdam$2,000no account filed
September 2022Thunderstorm WindRotterdam-Several trees were reported down in the Bellevue area of Schenectady.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindRotterdam-Limbs downed on Campbell Road in Rotterdam due to a gust front well ahead of the line of thunderstorms.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindRotterdam-A tree was downed on Putnam Road in the Town of Rotterdam.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindRotterdam-Route 337 between Route 159 and Princetown Road was closed due to a downed pole and wires.
May 2013Heavy RainRotterdam-A trained spotter reported water flowing across parking lots and under cars two to three inches deep in Rotterdam.
September 2011FloodRotterdam-Flooding occurred along the Mohawk River. Route 5S was closed due to flooding between Rynex Corners Road and Crawford in Rotterdam. New York State Erie Canal Locks E-9 (Rotterdam Junction) and E-8 (Scotia) were damage beyond what happened as a result of Tropical Storm Irene. At Lock E-9, the north end of dam breached by the river and a large section Route 103 (Bridge Street) on the Glenville side of the lock collapsed. Two concrete Canal Corporation buildings near the lock were swept away. At Lock E-8, the north end of dam breached by the river. ||Due to the expected flooding and the potential for debris dam at any of locks and bridges evacuations were ordered for the flood-prone areas of Rotterdam Junction, Glenville, Scotia, City of Schenectday and Niskayuna. It was reported that about 400 people who ignored the evacuation orders had to be rescued. The following bridges crossing the Mohawk River were closed between 12:45 pm to 4 pm EST Thursday, September 8th: Western Gateway Bridge (Route 5), Interstate 890 Bridge in Rotterdam Junction, Freemans Bridge in Schenectady, and Rexford Bridge (Route 146).||The river gage at Freeman's Bridge at Schenectady crested at 22.6 feet around 6 pm EST September 8th. The Cohoes river gage located on right bank at School Street powerplant in Cohoes, and 2.0 miles upstream from mouth exceeded its 20 foot flood stage at 9:44 am September 8th, it crested at 20.57 feet at 2:50 pm (moderate flood stage is 21 feet), and dropped below flood stage at 4:36 am September 9th.
August 2011FloodRotterdam-Route 337, West Campbell Road, in Rotterdam was reported closed due to flooding between Interstate 890 and Burdeck Street.
July 2009HailRotterdam-Nickel size hail was reported approximately 2 miles west of Rotterdam during a thunderstorm.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindRotterdam-Trees were reported down in Rotterdam due to strong thunderstorm winds.
June 2006HailRotterdam-A trained spotter reported that nickle-sized hail occurred at Rotterdam.
May 2017HailRotterdam-no account filed
May 2002Thunderstorm WindRotterdam-no account filed
August 1999HailRotterdam-no account filed
June 1994HailRotterdam-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Schenectady County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
South Schenectady0.0 miles33
Bellevue0.5 miles33
Hungry Hill1.0 miles33
Mount Pleasant1.4 miles33
Coldbrook1.6 miles33
Pine Grove1.8 miles33
Schonowe2.0 miles33
Carman2.3 miles33

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on RotterdamAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q3460132The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 971936. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.