Schenectady was chartered as a borough in 1765 and as a city in 1798, and from that period date many quaint examples of colonial architecture. In Scotia, a suburb to the northwest of the city, still stands the Glen-Sanders mansion (built 1713) described as "a veritable museum of antiquity, furnished from cellar to garret with strongly built, elegant furniture, two centuries old." Descendants of the original owners are still living there. A fine specimen of Dutch architecture is the so-called Abraham Yates house (1710) at No. 109 Union Street. The Christopher Yates house at No. 26 Front Street was the birth place of Joseph C. Yates, first mayor of Utica (1788) and governor of the state in 1823. Governor Yates afterwards lived, until his death, in the large colonial house at No. 17 Front Street. The old "depot" of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, the first steam passenger railway in America now incorporated with the New York Central, is still standing in Crane Street. Schenectady is the seat of Union College, which grew out of the Schenectady Academy (established in 1784) and many of the buildings dating back to the early 19th century are still in excellent preservation. They were designed by a French architect, Jacques Ram['e], and the original plans are still in the Louvre, in Paris. At one of the entrances to the college on Union Street is the Payne Gate, built as a memorial to John Howard Payne (1791-1852), author of "Home, Sweet Home," who was at one time a student at Union College The college comprises the academic and engineering departments of Union University. The other departments of the university--medicine, law, and pharmacy, as well as the Dudley observatory--are at Albany. Up to the time of the building of the Erie Canal, Schenectady had been an important depot of the Mohawk River boat trade to the westward, but after the completion of the canal it suffered a decline. The modern manufacturing era, beginning about 1880, brought Schenectady growth and prosperity. To-day the city can boast that its products "light and haul the world." As we enter the town we pass on the left the main establishment of the General Electric Co., the largest electrical manufacturing plant in the world, with 200 buildings and 26,000 employees.