Schenectady, New York a route through the pine barrens between them. Developers in Schenectady quickly founded the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, chartered in 1833; Schenectady & Susquehanna Railroad, chartered May 5, 1836; and Schenectady & Troy Railroad, chartered in 1836, making Schenectady "the rail hub of America at the time" and competing with the Erie Canal. Commodities from the Great Lakes areas and commercial products were shipped to the East and New York City through the Mohawk Valley and Schenectady. The last slaves in New York and this city gained freedom in 1827, under the state's gradual abolition law. The law first gave
Great Lakes Megalopolis Great Lakes Megalopolis The Great Lakes Megalopolis consists of the group of metropolitan areas in North America largely in the Great Lakes region and along the Saint Lawrence Seaway. To its south and west, it lies in the Midwestern United States, extending east into western Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, as well as north to Southern Ontario and the southern part of Quebec in Canada. It is the largest and most populated megalopolis in North America. At its most inclusive, the region cuts a wide swath from the Twin Cities in Minnesota to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Rochester, New York. On