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Vale Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Schenectady, New York. It was opened in 1870 but is adjacent to other older cemeteries with graves far older than 1870. Vale Cemetery runs almost through the middle of the city but was not originally planned that way. When the cemetery was first established, Schenectady was still mainly centered in the old Stockade region across the Mohawk River from Scotia and Vale was planned to be on the outskirts to the east. Eventually Schenectady grew towards the east and swallowed up the cemetery making it a prominent and historic feature of the city. Vale Cemetery comprises approximately 250 acres (1 km²) located in the interior of the City of Schenectady.

[edit] Notable burials

• Ernst Alexanderson, came to the United States in 1901 to meet electrical wizard Charles Steinmetz. Developed the Alexanderson alternator which was the first radio transmitter used to broadcast the human voice. Dr. Alexanderson was also instrumental in the development of television. Over his lifetime, Dr. Alexanderson received 344 patents, the last awarded in 1973 at age 94.
• Oswald D. Heck, elected to the New York State Assembly in 1937. Speaker of the house from 1939-1959. There is a gavel on his tombstone.
• Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923), electrical engineer
• George Westinghouse, inventor

[edit] Other

• A caretaker's cottage.
• A veterans section — This is the final resting place of many of our brave soldiers. Graves date back to soldiers of the Civil and Spanish American Wars.
• First Reformed Church — The graves in this section predate the formation of Vale Cemetery. They were moved in 1879 from various small First Reformed Church cemeteries scattered throughout the Stockade. The oldest marker is that of Ian Mabee, survivor of the Schenectady Massacre, who died in 1725.
• Christian Temple and GME (German Methodist Episcopal) Church.
• Westinghouse Family — George Westinghouse was well known in the farming industry having invented the thresher. George Westinghouse Jr., competitor of Thomas Edison, made the name Westinghouse a household word for his work in the electrical and railroad industries. He and his immediate family are buried in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The family home was located in Liberty Park. George built a grand house for his mother but she refused to move into it as it was too far away from her friends. George shrugged it off by saying "It was only two weeks pay". That house is now the Bond funeral home on Broadway.
• Indian Jim Cuff — In the far corner is the "County Plot". One of its most famous inhabitants is "Indian Jim" Cuff, a full-blooded Mohawk Native American over 8' tall. He was well respected for his knowledge of herbs. A friend of his carved Indian Jim's likeness into his gravestone. Legend tells us that two college students wanted to exhume his body for an autopsy. To keep rivals from getting to the body first, they switched headstones. By the time they returned for the body, they had forgotten which stone they had switched and so, Indian Jim's body remains in his final resting place.
• George Tompkins.
• Lion — The Haigh mausoleum is adorned with a statue of a dog named Lion. The legend is that after his master died, Lion came to the mausoleum daily where he was cared for by cemetery staff. The statue is in Lion's memory.
• Stanford Mausoleum — The family raised eight children the most notable being Leland Stanford. In early life Leland was an attorney. He opened an office in Port Washington, Wisconsin but shortly thereafter a fire destroyed his office and a $3,000 library. Leland decided to head west where he joined his brothers in business. He was very successful and made much of his fortune in the railroad industry being a principle in the building of the transcontinental railroad. It was Leland who pounded the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah. Leland and his wife Jane founded Stanford University in memory of their son Leland Jr. who died of typhoid fever at age 15.
• A Celtic Cross.
• Charles Proteus Steinmetz was an electrical wizard who came to this country because of political persecution in Europe. He worked closely with Thomas Edison and was considered a genius in the field of electricity. He was active in civic affairs, particularly education and was well loved by all. He his purported to have designed the engraving on his tombstone.
• Ellis Family — The father and two sons were presidents of Schenectady Locomotive Works later to become American Locomotive Company.
• African Section — The original African Cemetery was located on Hamilton Hill. Judge Alonzo Paige purchased the area for real estate development. He also purchased space in Vale and re-interred the bodies at his expense. This was not a wholly selfish act since people were continually disturbing the graves by removing the sandy soil for cement making.
• Union College Plot.
• Holland Mausoleum.
• Revolutionary War Memorial.