Was Troy, NY Named After The Mythical City From The Odyssey?

On July 17th, Christopher Nolan released The Odyssey, a sprawling epic that follows the epic poem by Homer. The story starts at the end of the Trojan War with the Fall of Troy.

Obviously, this takes place in ancient Greece (the city of Troy itself was assumed to be in present day Turkey), but why does one of Upstate New York's most historic cities share its name?

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Before Troy

Troy wasn't always the name of the city on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Europeans began colonizing the Mohican territory in 1624, when the Dutch built Fort Orange.

The area thrived in early colonial America, but in 1707, Dirck Van der Heyden took control of the old farm of Pieterse van Woggelum, making the territory his. As such, the land between Poesten Kill and Piscawan Kill was named Vanderheyden (commonly referred to as Ashley's Ferry). That wouldn't last too long...

The Beginnings of Troy

By the late 18th Century, classical names for cities had become all the rage. Rome and Syracuse were notable, and Ithaca was also named after the same mythos that Troy was.

The skyline of Troy, NY

In 1789, the new settlers of the area rejected the Dutch name, and sent out a message to newspapers in Lansingburgh and Albany. That message said one thing:

To the Public:

This evening the Freeholders of the place lately known by Van Der Heyden's or Ashley's Ferry, situate on the east bank of Hudson's River, about seven miles above Albany, met for the purpose of establishing a name for the said place; when, by a majority of voices, it was confirmed, that in the future, it should be called and known by the name of

T R O Y

The city itself was named after the mythical city of Troy from ancient Green history and mythology (The Iliad and The Odyssey).