[3] The name is from a Mohawk language word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands," a term that originally applied to Albany.

Schenectady County is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is west of the confluence of the Mohawk with the Hudson River.

This area of the river valley was historically occupied by the Mohawk people, the easternmost of the Five Nations comprising the Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee.

European settlement started in the present-day county by Dutch colonists in the 17th century; the village of Schenectady was founded in 1661.

The fur traders in Albany kept a monopoly and prohibited settlers in Schenectady from the trade; those residents mostly became farmers.

Major European immigration began in the mid-19th century, with the arrival of Irish refugees from the Great Famine.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the city became an industrial powerhouse and center of innovation, the headquarters of General Electric and other national corporations.

The city of Schenectady lost many jobs and population in the late 20th century due to industrial and railroad restructuring; some people stayed in the county working at alternative positions, including commuting to the capital of Albany.

[4] Schenectady County is located in east central New York State, northwest of Albany, an area usually considered "Upstate".

24.3% were of Italian, 14.7% Irish, 8.7% German, 6.4% Polish, 4.0 Puerto Rican, 3.9% English ancestry according to Census 2010.

Legislative authority is vested in the County Legislature, which consists of 15 members representing 8 communities, separated into four districts.

The legislature hires a county manager to oversee day-to-day government operations.