Photo: Tyler A. McNeil, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 1886 Thomas Edison moved his Edison Machine Works from New York City to two empty factory buildings in Schenectady. When Edison’s businesses merged with Thomson-Houston in 1892 to form General Electric, Schenectady became the new company’s main works.
With the American Locomotive Company on the other side of town, Schenectady earned the slogan “The City That Lights and Hauls the World.”
Peak years
At its height in the 1940s and 1950s, GE employed tens of thousands of people in Schenectady. The company’s research lab, one of the first industrial labs in the country, produced work in radio, television and plastics. The lab later moved to Niskayuna.
A smaller footprint
Employment fell steadily from the 1970s on as GE moved work elsewhere. Large parts of the old plant were torn down or left empty.
When GE split into three companies, its power business became GE Vernova in 2024. The Schenectady site still builds steam turbines and generators, along with other power equipment, and remains one of the larger manufacturing employers in the Capital Region.
The famous lighted GE sign over the plant on Erie Boulevard is still a landmark for anyone driving into the city.
