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The General Electric Realty Plot, often referred to locally as the GE Realty Plot or just The Plot, is a residential neighborhood in Schenectady, New York, United States. It is an area of approximately just east of Union College. Originally an undeveloped tract owned by the college, it was sold to General Electric (GE) at the end of the 19th century to help the college pay off a debt. The company's executives subdivided it, laid out streets according to a plan inspired by New York's Central Park and built houses on the land, with covenants requiring a minimum lot size and house value. Two of them were among the first fully electric houses in the U.S., used as models by GE. Also settling in the neighborhood were some local businessmen and politicians, and the research scientists who worked at the company's research laboratory a short distance away. They were collectively responsible for over 400 patents. Some of the key events in their research happened within the Plot, as many took things home to work on. By 1927 approximately a hundred houses had been built, including one later owned by chemist Irving Langmuir, a GE researcher, for his later life. It has subsequently been designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition of Langmuir's scientific accomplishments, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1980 the entire neighborhood was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Plot is no longer so heavily dominated by GE employees, due to the company's greatly reduced presence in the city. Houses in it remain highly valued, and residents pay some of the Capital District region's highest property taxes. Rules enforced by both the neighborhood association and the city's Historic Commission preserve its historic character. ==Geography== The district is mostly bounded by streets, making it roughly quadrilateral in shape. At the west, Lenox Road divides it from the college campus. Nott Street forms the northern boundary, separating the Realty Plot from Ellis Hospital until the rear property lines between houses on Lowell Road and Glenwood Boulevard mark the eastern boundary. After crossing Rugby Road, the line turns west to take in the houses on the south side of that street, including some on Oxford Place just east of its intersection with Wendell Avenue, then following Oxford back to Lenox.〔 A small stream known as College Creek or Grooteskill flows west through the district to the Mohawk River, making a ravine deep and wide through the center of the district. It is spanned by four bluestone arch bridges, all included as contributing properties. Many mature trees grow throughout the district.〔 The houses within are on lots with a minimum size of , set back 35–45 feet (10.6–13.7 m) from the streets they front on. They are predominantly in the Colonial Revival or Georgian Revival architectural styles, with some in the Mission Revival, Queen Anne or Shingle modes.〔 The Steinmetz Memorial on Wendell Avenue is the only significant open space in the district. It is named for Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the German-born electrical engineer whose research made alternating current possible. Steinmetz's house (at 1297 Wendell Avenue) stood on the grounds of the Memorial. He did research in a backyard lab, and both the lab and the house were demolished in 1944. Steinmetz also chaired the city's school board. A separate public park in Schenectady, known as The Steinmetz Park, is located on Lenox Road but is outside the GE Realty Plot district. The building at 1184 Rugby Road was developed as a primary school and remained in use for that purpose for many years.〔 Only five buildings have been added to the district since its initial period of development in the first quarter of the 20th century. They include a modern church by Edward Durrell Stone from the late 1950s on Wendell Avenue. Most of them are otherwise unintrusive, but are not considered contributing due to their more recent construction.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「General Electric Realty Plot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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