One of the joys of visiting small rural communities is admiring their village greens. Village Greens are small parcels of land set aside for the benefit of the entire community. They're often the scenes of commencements or inaugurations, ends of parades, picnics, or other festivities and almost always are grassy parks.

Troy still has its original Village Green.

Seminary or Congress Park is a small parcel along Congress Street, bordered easterly by Second Street, westerly by First, and southerly by Russell Sage College. Seminary Park has remained virtually the same for the past 200 years.

The area that is now downtown Troy was laid out into lots in 1786 by Jacob D. Vanderheyden. Philadelphia was used as the model for Troy, consisting of a layout of regular squares, streets, and alleys, except for the River Road that followed along the course of the river.

Vanderheyden's farm land was laid out in this rectangular fashion into 289 lots, 15 feet wide by 130 feet deep. Streets were 6o feet wide, and alleys were 25 feet.

Benjamin Covell was the first to select a lot - number 5 - on the west side of River Street, becoming the "first" Trojan.

To put this in perspective, Lansingburgh to the north already was a substantial village with 4-500 inhabitants, while nearby Albany had 3000.

The residents of Troy, then known as Ashley's Ferry, or Vanderheyden, soon changed the name of the village to 'Troy' on January 5, 1789. Almost ten years later, on February 6, 1798, Troy incorporated as a village and boasted a population of about 1500 people (surpassing Lansingburgh).

Troy received its first park even before incorporation. On May 10, 1796, two years before incorporating, Jacob D. Vanderheyden deeded over three lots, "Bounded on the north by Congress Street, east by Second Street, south by Lot 115 and west by an alley." It was to be used as a public square. This original park would be about half of the present one (extend the alley on Congress south through to Sage).

Lot 115 was the site of Moulton's Coffee House, later used by Emma Willard for her Troy Female Seminary (Emma Willard School), and now Sage Colleges.

This deed also gave permission to construct "a public schoolhouse or academy if judged proper by the inhabitants." They didn't.

Vanderheyden received five shillings for the deal, roughly the weekly wage of a carpenter during Elizabeth I's reign, or the cost of about 15 pounds of candles.

The other half of Seminary Park came from land owned by the First Presbyterian Church.

In 1792, a small wooden meeting house was built on the east side of First Street near Congress on land donated by Jacob D. Vanderheyden, a member of the church. The following June, the Rev. John McDonald delivered the first sermon at the new house of worship. A historic marker now rests on the site.

Under the church was built a vault and the remains of Vanderheyden's mother and father were interred there. I haven't been able to determine if they are still there or were moved at a later date.

In 1795, Jacob D. deeded over three more lots to the church, lots 86, 87, and 88. In 1819, a small session-house was erected to the south of the meeting house.

On July 18, 1834, the church swapped land with the city. Lots 86, 87 and part of 86, were given to the city for lots 85 and 84, for the purpose to build a larger church. There was a small reservation placed on lot 86, "So that a small part of said meeting house so to be erected only shall stand upon said lots with a view that the residue of said lots may forever be kept open and kept unoccupied by any building and be enclosed as a public park and yard in front of the same meeting house."

It was also stipulated that the portico of the new church not extend into lot 86 by more than 15 feet. A right of way was also granted so that people could enter through Congress and First Streets: a gate to be placed on First, another on Congress, and another on either street west of the alley.

Construction for the new church began in 1835. It stands as a Greek Revival building that looks like the Parthenon, and is now owned by Russell Sage.

Over the years the alley to the west was assimilated. Paths were created. Fences were erected and removed. Some landscaping occurred to prevent people from walking in the grass. Aside from the war memorial now there, and some benches, Seminary Park has remained one of Troy's emerald treasures for all citizens to use.

Let's hope it always remains so.