Site of the Home of Charles Proteus Steinmetz

This is the back side of the marker, looking toward Wendall Ave.

Vandals have sprayed paint on the monument plaque.

This photo of the Steinmetz home is in the collection of the Edison Tech Center in Schenectady.

At Schenectady Steinmetz built a campsite, shown here, on the Mohawk River. During the summer he would work in his canoe, paddling up and down the river. Boards would be placed from gunwale to gunwale to serve as a desk, and he would kneel on a cushion in the canoe doing mathematical calculations. He enjoyed inviting guests to the camp on weekends and usually entertained from six to eight people, especially enjoying the company of children. As host he enjoyed doing the cooking, but refused to do dishes, which became the guests’ chore. In fact he would take out all of the dishes from the past several days for the guests to wash. When the camp was hit by lightening, Steinmetz invented a way to produce lightening so that he could study it. When he died in 1923 the camp was purchased by Henry Ford who had it moved to Dearborn Institute in Michigan. This photo is in the collection of the Edison Tech Center in Schenectady.

The 1920 Canoe of Charles P. Steinmetz made by Old Town Canoe of Maine is on loan from "Olde Tymers" Greg Sowers of Canaan, N.Y. to the Edison Tech Center in Schenectady. The photo above the canoe shows Steinmetz in this canoe, with papers spread out, at Camp Mohawk in 1922, one year before his death.

Charles Steinmetz's 1914 Detroit Electric, a Model 48 Duplex Drive Brougham, owned by Union College. Union College uses the car annually during commencement ceremonies. It is seen on display at the Edison Tech Center in Schenectady.

Steinmetz is buried in the Vale Cemetery in Schenectady
N 42.80793 W 73.92530

Steinmetz sister, Clara W. Steinmetz (1857 - 1940), is to the left of Charles in this photo.

The pond in Steinmetz Park, (not to be confused with Steinmetz Memorial Park) which is sometimes called Steinmetz Lake. Steinmetz Park is a recreational park, approximately 45 acres in size. Steinmetz Park was established nearly a century ago when Schenectady was rapidly growing into the city it is today. Citizens of the Second Ward began petitioning for a park in the 1920s and, in 1926, the Park Board urged the City of Schenectady to acquire lands “required for the development of the Second Ward Park.” Lands were first purchased in 1931 and not long thereafter were designated as Second Ward Park. Additional lands were purchased throughout the 1930s and the park grew to nearly 45 acres. Eventually, the park was named Steinmetz Park, after Charles Proteus Steinmetz, one of America’s brightest scientists, cofounder of General Electric, and Commissioner of Parks and City Planning in Schenectady during the formation of both Steinmetz Park and Central Park.