Amsterdam City Hall is located at 61 Church Street, Amsterdam NY 12010.
Phone: 518‑841‑4300. A charter for the incorporation of Amsterdam was initially granted in 1830.
Beginnings [1]
Albert (or Aaron) Vedder settled near the mouth of the Chuctenunda Creek during the Revolutionary War, and then and there laid the foundation of the village of Amsterdam by erecting a saw mill and a grist mill.
As the settlement began to grow and the inhabitants to increase around "Vedder's Mills," the place began, naturally enough, to be called "Veddersburg," which name, by common consent, it retained for many years.
At the beginning of the 19th century the population was pretty equally divided between Holland Dutch and the descendants of the German Palatines on one side, and those from New England and New York on the other. The Dutch, revering the name of Amsterdam, were desirous of calling their village after the metropolis of their mother country. The desire culminated in the Spring of 1804 when at a town meeting, the question of changing the name Veddersburg to Amsterdam was submitted to a vote, which resulted in a tie. James Allen, being president of the meeting, had the casting vote, and out of modest courtesy to the Dutch element, decided upon the name "Amsterdam."