Built in 1765. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.
From the record
“The DeFreest Homestead is a historic house and barn located in the Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush, New York, United States. The homestead and surrounding land are owned and managed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.”
Wikipedia article DeFreest Homestead, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 128 National Register listings published here for Rensselaer County · listed in 1977 · category: Building · built in 1765.
National Register reference number.77000978- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
1,339 since 1993
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 1,339 fires within 5 miles of Defreest Homestead
between 1993 and 2020, burning about 1,013 acres in total. 58 started naturally. 283 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/undetermined
785
Arson/incendiarism
283
Debris and open burning
107
Natural
58
Smoking
45
Equipment and vehicle use
22
Recreation and ceremony
11
Misuse of fire by a minor
11
Railroad operations and maintenance
10
Power generation/transmission/distribution
7
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
13 workings within 5 miles of Defreest Homestead: 7 past producers, 5 producers, 1 plant.
6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Perlite. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Troy, the town this property stands in, in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2021: 22 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 4 flash flood, 1 lightning.
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.
A surge of ice and water from the prior day's heavy rain and snowmelt moved down the Hudson River and tore a total of ten vessels lose from their moorings above the Federal Dam in Troy during the predawn hours of the 25th. The vessels included tugboats, barges, a cruise ship, and a floating restaurant. Some of the vessels struck bridges, some ran aground, and at least one sunk. The loose vessels prompted the closing of several bridges between Troy and Albany over the Hudson during the morning rush hour, including the Patroon Island Bridge that carries Interstate 90. Amtrak trains crossing the river were forced to reduce their speed as a precaution. The vessels were secured by 11 am. Monetary damage amounts were estimated.
Lightning struck a home on Lindsey Drive in Brunswick. The lightning struck the chimney and traveled down through the walls to the basement, where it started a fire. The home was reported to have significant damage.
Several inches of water rushed down Sixth Street, Federal Street and Hoosick Street. There was also a few feet of standing water in places downtown. Roadways were closed due to damage and debris on Federal Street, Sage Avenue and Peoples Avenue.
Heavy rainfall from thunderstorms led to flash flooding in the city of Troy. A portion of Second Avenue (U.S. Route 4) was temporarily closed due to a foot and a half of flood waters across the roadway.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
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.
Block
