History of New York State
A Brief Chronology
Part 2
Source
• Chronology & Documentary Handbook of
the State of New York.
• Ellen Lloyd Trover, State Editor
• William F. Swindler, Series Editor
• Oceana Publications
• Dobbs Ferry, New York
• 1978
1857-1863
• 1857 -- John A. King, 1st candidate of new
Republican party, elected governor.
• 1859 – Cooper Union, educational and cultural
center for immigrant groups, opened.
• 1860 – Population: 3,880,735.
• 1861 – Matthew Vassar, NYC philanthropist,
establishes women’s college at Poughkeepsie.
• 1862 – New York sends 120 regiments to fight for
the Unions during the Civil War.
• 1863 – New York sends additional volunteers.
1863- 1867
• July 11, 1863 – Widespread draft riots lasting 3
days in NYC cause approximately 100 deaths
and destroyed millions of dollars worth of
property before federal troops bring order.
• 1865 – Ezra Cornell, New York philanthropist,
founded Cornell University in Ithaca.
• 1866 – Constitutional convention held, no
proposals resulted.
• 1867 – Women’s suffrage movement results in
speech before the state legislature by Elizabeth
Cady Stanton.
1869 - 1873
• 1869 – John T. Hoffman, candidate of “Boss”
William M. Tweed, elected governor.
• 1870 – Population: 4,382,759
• 1870 – St. John’s University founded in Jamaica.
• 1871 – Syracuse University established.
• July 1871 – New York Times publishes news
articles detailing the corruption of the political
machine led by Boss Tweed in NYC.
• 1873 – Republican John Dix elected governor in
reaction to Tweed corruption scandal.
1874- 1884
• 1874 – First Chautauqua Assembly met at Lake
Chautauqua.
• 1879 – New State capitol in Albany dedicated.
• 1880 – Population: 5,082,871
• 1881 – Chester A. Arthur, protégé of “Boss
Roscoe Conkling, becomes president with the
assassination of President James Garfield.
• 1884 – New York governor Grover Cleveland
becomes President.
1887-1894
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1887 – Pratt Institute founded in Brooklyn.
1889 – Barnard College founded in Mahattan.
1890 – Population: 6,003,174.
1892 – Roswell P. Flower of Watertown is elected
governor as a Democrat.
• 1894 – New York adopts 4th Constitution, initiating
reforms in judicial and electoral systems and
establishing more equitable classifications of
urban-rural areas.
1898 - 1901
• January 1, 1898 – Greater New York City is
officially created by legislative enactment
following two-year study.
• April 27, 1898 – Nassau County created.
• 1899 – Theodore Roosevelt, a reform candidate
Republican wins election as governor.
• 1900 – Population: 7,268,894.
• 1901 – Theodore Roosevelt, elected VicePresident in November 1900, becomes President
when President McKinley is assassinated.
1905 - 1912
• 1905 – Juilliard School of Music established.
• 1907 – Charles Evans Hughes, reform Republican
candidate and trust buster, elected governor.
• 1910 – Population: 9,113,614
• 1910 – Hughes appointed to the Supreme Court.
• 1911 – John Alden Dix elected governor as a
reform Democrat.
• April 19, 1912 – Bronx, the final state county, is
created as a borough of New York City.
1913- 1919
• October 17, 1913 – Governor William Sulzer,
Democrat, is impeached for malpractices
committed before is election as governor.
• Lieutenant Governor Martin H. Glynn, a member
of the Murphy machine , becomes governor.
• 1915 – Republican district attorney Charles S.
Whitman, becomes governor.
• 1919 – Alfred E. Smith, New York Tammany
candidate, elected governor for first time.
1919 - 1924
• 1919 – Mary M. Lilly & Ida B. Sammis become
first women members elected to state legislature.
• 1920 – Population: 10, 385, 227
• 1921 – Republican Nathan Miller elected
governor in post WW 1 Harding landslide.
• 1922 – Children’s Courts established.
• 1922 – $20M allocated for highway construction.
• 1923 – Al Smith elected governor for 2nd time.
• 1924 – Fires destroy 15,000 acres in Catskills
and Adirondack mountains.
1925 - 1931
• 1925 – Al Smith elected to 2nd consecutive term
as governor, 3rd term overall.
• 1927 – Al Smith elected to 4th two-year term.
• September 12, 1927 – New York celebrates its
150th anniversary.
• 1929 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes governor.
• 1930 – Population: 12,588,066.
• 1931 – 1 million cubic feet of rock collapses into
Niagara River at American side of Niagara Falls
1932- 1938
• 1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President,
Herbert H. Lehman elected governor.
• 1935 – Lehman begins 2nd term as governor.
• 1935 – New School of Social Research opens in
New York City.
• 1936 – President Roosevelt re-elected; Governor
Lehman re-elected.
• 1938 – State constitutional convention held, but
no proposals, are made.
1939-1942
• 1939 – Governor Lehman begins 4th term, first
term to be extended to four years by
constitutional amendment in 1938.
• April 30, 1939 – New York World’s Fair opens in
Flushing Meadows.
• 1940 – Population: 13,379,662.
• July 2, 1941 – New York County grand jury
returns indictments on extortion in milk industry.
• January 4, 1942 – 500,000 volunteer to be part
of civil defense program during WW2.
1942- 1948
• 1942 – Crusading prosecutor, Thomas E. Dewey,
elected governor as Republican, 1st since 1923.
• 1945 – Major labor strikes plague NYC in months
following end of WW2.
• April 13, 1947 – NYC donates 5 parcels of land
for construction of United Nations.
• 1947 – Dewey elected to 2nd term.
• March 30, 1948 – More than 1,000 workers go on
strike at New York Stock Exchange.
1948 - 1951
• April 27, 1948 – NYC announces $1Billion budget.
• 1949 – Water shortage in Manhattan leads to
water rationing.
• 1950 – Population: 14,830,192.
• March 21, 1950 – State officials authorize
construction of $500 million New York Thruway.
• 1951 – Federal and state investigators charge
widespread racketeering in NYC, many resign.
• 1951 – Thomas E. Dewey elected as governor to
3rd term.
1953 - 1955
• March 26, 1953 – NYC directed to turn over
control of transit system to new transit authority.
• 1954 – Special NYC census sets population at
8,050,000; including 485,000 Latino, 840,000
non-white.
• September 21, 1955 – Loyalty investigations of
58,000 public employees results in 15 dismissals.
• 1955 – Averell Harriman, Democrat, elected
governor; 1st Democrat in 12 years.
1956 • August 3, 1956 – Congress authorizes NJ-NYConnecticut Interstate Sanitary Commission.
• 1957 – Lincoln Square development
project,$205M cultural, educational, and housing
project launched with $27M in federal support.
• 1959 – Republican Nelson A. Rockefeller
elected governor.
• 1959 – NYC Council creates commission to
study feasibility of statehood for metro region.
1959 - 1963
• May 14, 1959 – Groundbreaking ceremonies for
$75M Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
• 1960 – Population: 16,596,507.
• September 1, 1961 – Census reports indicates
NYC second largest city in the world.
• 1962 – Proceedings begin to test constitutionality
of the states “Regents’ Prayer;” in 1965 it fails.
• 1963 – Idylwild Airport renamed for slain
president John F. Kennedy.
1964 - 1965
• January 18, 1964 – NY Port Authority
announces plans for twin 110 story towers to be
called the World Trade Center; to cost $350M.
• April 22, 1964 – New York World’s Fair opens on
the same site as the 1939 World’s Fair.
• November 1964 – Robert Kennedy defeats
incumbent Kenneth Keating for Senate seat.
• November 9, 1965 – Massive power failure
impacts 25M persons in US and Canada. It
began in New York.
1966 - 1968
• September 21, 1966 – Protests over the quality of
education for the poor in NYC led by Puerto
Rican and African American activists.
• November 8, 1966 – Constitutional amendment
approved which allows state lottery.
• 1967 – Proposed new constitution was rejected
by the voters.
• June 7, 1968 – RFK assassinated in Los
Angeles.
1969 - 1971
• June 16, 1969 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds
Rep. Adam Clayton Powell’s claim that the
House of Representatives wrongly denied him
the right to take his seat in Congress.
• April 11, 1970 – Legislature passes liberal
abortion law, permitting private decision by
individuals within certain circumstances.
• 1970 – Population: 18,190,740.
• October 26, 1971 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds
NY’s Taylor Law which docks striking teachers
two days for every day they stay out on strike.
1972 - 1973
• January 24, 1972 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds
ruling which voided 1-year residency law for
receiving welfare.
• July 7, 1972 – NY’s highest court upholds
liberalized abortion laws.
• July 19, 1972 – Three-day hunger strike by
hundreds of inmates at Attica prison.
• 1973 – State legislature passes no-fault
insurance plan to take effect Feb. 1, 1974.