From 1799 until its formation in 1803, Guilderland was a part of the town of Watervliet. The name Guilderland (spelled Guilderlandt in the original law) was the suggestion of resident Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, who happened to be Lieutenant-Governor of the state at the time, and as such was President of the Senate. His family (that of the original patroon) and many of the original settlers came from Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands. In 1871 the northwestern portion of Albany, west from Magazine Street, was annexed to Guilderland, after the town of Watervliet refused the annexation of the same territory. Portions of this territory would be annexed back to Albany in 1910, setting up more or less the current border.