29 ALF
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Schenectady County, N.Y. Civil Defense System

Tue Nov 12, 2024 5:40 pm

Here's another thread for another New York Civil Defense system, one that is a little more familiar to some on the board - Schenectady and Schenectady County, N.Y.
To give a backstory, Schenectady was a vital manufacturing hub during WWII, as it had General Electric, American Locomotive, and other businesses in the area, on top of the Delaware & Hudson railroad, an important shipping line for Canada and the rest fo the northeastern United States. Locally, it was much different than surrounding cities, whose primary industry was textiles (hence the name "Leatherstocking Region" is often used to describe this area of New York, in addition to "Capital Region"). Thus, Schenectady invested in an air raid siren system quite fast.
From what I could gather on the "OCD Siren Funds" document, the city of Schenectady itself purchased 4 Thunderbolts, and 4 SD-10s, while Schenectady County purchased 10 sirens in the SD-10 class, and 60 sirens in the Model 2/Little Giant class. At first glance, I thought that "60" number was a mistake, but I have come to learn that it may not be as outlandish as I thought. Curiously, the City of Schenectady did have a Sterling Little Giant at Fire Department Headquarters, after the department was formally organized: Image
Whether this was relevant to their Civil Defense system as some sort of precursor is unknown to me. What is definitely known is what remained post-Cold War.
Two Jailbar Thunderbolts remain; one on the former Freihofer building, 1237 Albany St., and one on the former Euclid/Bellevue School, 2020 Broadway.
Image
The Euclid Jailbar tipped over sometime after the school closed in the early 1970s, and remained that way for some time. You can still see the horn in the corner of the building.
Only one SD-10 still stands today--located at Yates Magnet school on Salina St.
Removed but confirmed SD-10s were located at:
Carman Fire Department (no image available), Rotterdam Town Clerk's office, Scotia Fire Department, Schenectady City Hall, one on a pole at 1134 Balltown Rd (an old football field, no pictures), and finally, 3002 Albany St. (formerly SFD Station 8):
Image
This is as far as I have been able to take as certainty.
One Jailbar Thunderbolt has been alleged to be at Sacandaga Elementary school in Scotia; however, I have not seen anything backing this up yet, and it being outside the city doesn't make sense to me, but it could still be possible.
Last edited by 29 ALF on Wed Nov 13, 2024 2:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Someone22
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Re: Schenectady County, N.Y. Civil Defense System

Tue Nov 12, 2024 11:19 pm

29 ALF wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2024 5:40 pm
One Jailbar Thunderbolt has been alleged to be at Sacandaga Elementary school in Scotia; however, I have not seen anything backing this up yet, and it being outside the city doesn't make sense to me, but it could still be possible.
This one could be seen from 230 Schermerhorn Street in 2011 streetview. It was removed a few years ago.
Capture.PNG
Capture.PNG (458.54 KiB) Viewed 3992 times
The fire HQ also had a Thunderbolt, but I'm not sure what ended up happening to it.
Great post by the way.

29 ALF
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Re: Schenectady County, N.Y. Civil Defense System

Wed Nov 13, 2024 12:16 am

Well, that seals it. Shame they went. Looks like they were all painted black too. Strange. Thank you for the information! I'll definitely add it to the map. Would you happen to have any pictures of the Fire Headquarters unit? I assume it's the Erie Blvd. one, correct?
Edit: Looks like Sacandaga was removed only a few years ago. I can't believe it slipped under my nose this long. It might still be somewhere.
Also, it appears that the Euclid 'bolt has been tipped over since at least 2001. I wonder if the blower is still there, or somewhere in the building.

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Re: Schenectady County, N.Y. Civil Defense System

Sat Nov 16, 2024 5:59 am

29 ALF wrote:
Wed Nov 13, 2024 12:16 am
Would you happen to have any pictures of the Fire Headquarters unit? I assume it's the Erie Blvd. one, correct?
Correct. I don't have any photos of that unit but a newspaper article from 1953 had mentioned a Thunderbolt going off randomly at that location.

29 ALF
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Re: Schenectady County, N.Y. Civil Defense System

Sat Nov 16, 2024 6:17 am

I remember getting a newspaper clipping about the whole system tripping by accident one morning, and the mayor rolled over in his bed and went back to sleep.

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