North Greenbush was part of the Manor of
Rensselaerswyck and
Albany County prior to Rensselaer County's creation in 1791. North Greenbush was created on February 23, 1855, from the town of Greenbush at the same time as the town of Clinton (today
East Greenbush). At this time, North Greenbush occupied more than what it does today; it also covered what is now the northern section of the
city of
Rensselaer and the southern section of the city of Troy. The earliest settlers, in the early 1620s, settled in Bath, a part of the town annexed to Rensselaer in 1902. Some settlement in what is today North Greenbush may have taken place in the 17th century as well, but most significant early settlement occurred just prior to the
Revolutionary War. Early settlements in the town were at Bath,
Wynantskill, and Defreestville. In 1874, Bath became incorporated as a village, and in 1902 it was annexed to Rensselaer. Wynantskill, in the northeastern corner of the town, was first settled around the end of the 18th century, with a Dutch Reformed Church established and a post office established in 1820. Defreestville was originally called Blooming Grove until approximately 1830, when it was changed due to confusion with another Blooming Grove, in
Orange County. Snyders Lake was composed of summer residences and continues to lack a
central business district. During the 20th century, North Greenbush began to see more development due to an improved transportation infrastructure which led to increased suburban residential, office, and retail growth based on the automobile. In 1931, the road between Troy and East Greenbush was widened and the right-of-way was straightened as
US Route 4. The older, narrower, winding residential parts of the road were bypassed and is today's Bloomingrove Drive. But as time progressed, opposition grew in response to concerns about potential impacts on traffic and the environment. The RPI Tech Park site, which by October 1999 was one of only nine sites still being marketed by the state, was terminated when the North Greenbush town council voted to terminate the review process. Another instance of local opposition to development occurred after the construction of I-90's Exit 8 when that location became well-primed for commercial development. Local developer Frank Nigro, with Nigro Company, proposed a high-end shopping center for the northeastern corner of the intersection of routes 4 and 43. This led to lawsuits and a failed push by residents of Defreestville to incorporate as a village in order to stop the development and a counter-move by the developer and certain landowners to attempt annexation to the neighboring city of Rensselaer, where the development would be better received. The
Defreest Homestead was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1977. ==Geography==