Sand Lake is a town located in the southern-central part of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is approximately 13 miles east of Albany, New York. According to the 2020 census, the population of Sand Lake was 8,348. The town includes four hamlets: West Sand Lake, Averill Park, Glass Lake, and Sand Lake. The town’s four lakes provide opportunities for recreation. Many businesses during the 19th and early 20th centuries used power generated by mills along Wynants Kill Creek and Burden Lake. The area is known for having fertile soil that is well-suited for farming and grazing livestock.

History

Sand Lake was originally home to Native Americans. In 1629, Kiliaen van Rensselaer received a 700,000-acre land grant to create a Dutch colony that included the area now known as Sand Lake. This land was called the Manor of Rensselaerswyck and covered 48 miles in width and 24 miles in length. In 1664, the area became part of the English colony known as the Province of New York. It became Dutch again in 1672 and English once more in 1674.

In the 1750s, Dutch settlers moved into the area that is now Sand Lake, followed by German settlers. By 1772, the area was part of the Rensselaerwyck District in Albany County. The English controlled the area until the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). In 1792, the town of Rensselaerwyck was split into two towns, Greenbush and Stephentown. The area now known as Sand Lake was part of both towns.

In 1805, the Union Meetinghouse was built for worship by Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians. It was the town’s oldest public building and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

The town of Sand Lake was formed from parts of Greenbush and Berlin by a law passed on March 21, 1812. It officially became a town on March 1, 1813. Local government roles, such as town clerk and assessors, were created to serve the people. Calvin Thompson was the first Supervisor. Daniel M. Gregory became the first postmaster in 1815. The soil in the eastern lowlands was fertile, making it suitable for farming, especially for growing small fruits, strawberries, and other berries.

A new church building for the Trinity Lutheran Church was established in 1816. The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church opened in 1816 at the West Sand Lake site. Changes in church membership and leadership occurred around the 1830s. The town’s current borders were set on March 2, 1848, when Sand Lake was divided into two towns: Sand Lake and Poestenkill. The town was governed by a supervisor, town clerk, and four justices of the peace. For many years, town meetings were held in homes and inns.

Between 1825 and the early 1900s, public and private schools were established in the area. A one-room schoolhouse operated in Sand Lake from 1895 until 1929.

In 1866, the Wynantskill Improvement Association created three Burden Lakes from Wynantskill Creek. The water from the lakes powered a water wheel that helped operate mills and other businesses during the Industrial Revolution.

The Troy and New England Railway provided electric trolley service to Sand Lake from 1895 to 1925. The nine-mile route ran from Albia (in Troy) east to Averill Park. The town’s economy grew due to tourism and summer residents.

In 1964, the State Legislature passed the Municipal Home Rule Law, giving towns more control over their affairs. In 1968, Rensselaer County changed its government structure, replacing the Board of Supervisors with a County Executive and County Legislature. In 1972, a town hall was built in the former Presbyterian Church.

The Albert R. Fox House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Hamlets

Averill Park, Sand Lake, and West Sand Lake are three hamlets within the larger town of Sand Lake.

Averill Park is located near the center of the town. The Averill post office was created in 1880, with Frank Pettit as the first postmaster. The name was changed to Averill Park in 1882. Faith Mills, a textile factory built in the early 1800s, was located along what is now Burden Lake Road. It used water from the Wynantskill River for power. Averill Park is east of West Sand Lake and includes retail businesses, two churches, and Averill Park High School. The main street has businesses that date back to the mid-1800s.

Sand Lake is the smallest hamlet in the town. It has retail businesses, the Sand Lake Center for the Arts, a post office, town hall, a tavern, a cemetery, and an elementary school. Many historic homes are found in Sand Lake, and these homes are spaced farther apart than those in the other two hamlets.

West Sand Lake is in the northwestern part of the town. In 1793, Bernhard Uhlein, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, settled there and created a 325-acre farm. He received the land as a gift from Patroon VanRensselaer. The area was first called Ulinesville. A post office was opened in 1834, with Frost Myers as the first postmaster. The community was renamed West Sand Lake in 1838. It is the largest of the four hamlets and has the most residents. Some homes in the western part of West Sand Lake date back to the early 1800s. The hamlet includes retail businesses, schools, banks, two churches, and a post office.

Other areas

Sand Lake is home to several small communities, including Maple Grove, Sliter's Corner, and Taborton.

The Glass Lake area developed around the Rensselaer Glass Factory, which Jeremiah Van Rensselaer founded in 1804. The factory had homes for 34 workers, a store, a school, a doctor's office, and other homes and businesses. Glass Lake is the starting point of the Wynants Kill Creek. A historical marker is located at the intersection of Routes 43 and 66 on Glass Lake Road.

The South Sand Lake post office was established in 1854, with William Stevens serving as the first postmaster.

Geography

The surface of the town is rolling in the west and mountainous in the east, part of the Rensselaer Plateau. Oak and Perigo hills are approximately 900 feet above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town covers a total area of 36.2 square miles (94 km²), with 35.2 square miles (91 km²) being land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²) (2.63%) being water.

Within Sand Lake, there are four lakes: Burden Lake, Crooked Lake, Crystal Lake, and Glass Lake. These lakes have many types of freshwater fish and attract visitors. Glass Lake is located between Crooked Lake and Crystal Lake. It covers 123 acres and is found in Averill Park and Nassau. Burden Lake is in the southern part of Sand Lake and partly in Nassau. It covers 369 acres. Crystal Lake, which was once called Sand Lake, is the largest lake in Averill Park, part of the town of Sand Lake. It covers 66 acres. Crooked Lake is in the southern part of Sand Lake, south of Glass Lake. It covers 113 acres. Wynants Kill is a stream that begins at Crooked Lake, flows through Glass and Burden Lakes, and empties into Richard Pond and the Hudson River.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,348. In 2010, there were 8,530 people, 3,009 households, and 2,229 families living in the town. The population density was 226.9 people per square mile (87.6 per square kilometer). There were 3,277 housing units, with an average density of 93.1 per square mile (35.9 per square kilometer). The racial makeup of the town included 96.4% Non-Hispanic White, 0.4% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.50% Asian, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. Common ancestries included German (25.2%), Irish (22.6%), English (14.6%), Italian (13.8%), French (8.9%), and Polish (6.1%).

There were 3,009 households, of which 37.1% had children under 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples, 11.8% had a female householder without a husband, and 25.9% were non-families. Twenty percent of all households included only one person, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.65 people, and the average family size was 3.08 people.

The population was spread across age groups: 26.6% under 18, 6.1% aged 18 to 24, 28.6% aged 25 to 44, 28.1% aged 45 to 64, and 10.6% aged 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females aged 18 or older, there were 93.7 males.

The median income for a household was $77,372, and the median income for a family was $97,009. Males had a median income of $67,132, while females had a median income of $48,321. The per capita income for the town was $36,103. The median household income for White households was $75,474, compared to $2,157,374 for Asian households and $223,858 for African American households. About 6.7% of families and 7.7% of the population lived below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under 18 and 10.3% of those aged 65 or older.

Sports

Stock car racing – After World War II, Sand Lake helped make auto racing more popular. Burden Lake Speedway, a quarter-mile dirt track, opened in 1948 near Averill Park. Along with Pine Bowl and Route 66 Speedways in Poestenkill and Carroll's Grove Speedway in Brunswick, Rensselaer County became an important place for racing. Pine Bowl was the track that stayed open the longest, still running until 1966.

Notable people

• Levancia Holcomb Plumb (1841-1923), business owner, money manager, and supporter of temperance movement
• Kenny Tremont Jr. (born 1961), auto racing driver in the Hall of Fame