North Pole Zip Code
Many children around the nation mail to Santa Claus their wish lists and put the zip code as 12345. That zip code really does exist, and it is in Schenectady. More specifically the zip code belongs only to the General Electric plant. A group of employees has for several years volunteered their time to answer this mail.
Zip codes: 12302, 12303, 12304, 12305, 12306, 12307, 12308, 12309.
Trivia
- A timeline of Schenectady's long history.
- It has been suggested that science fiction author Kurt Vonnegut-- a onetime Capital District resident-- has portrayed Schenectady in his novels (notably "Player Piano") through the name "Illium". However since Ilium is the Latin name for Troy, it seems more logical that the name refers to nearby Troy, NY.
- The tulip is the City of Schenectady's designated flower. Symbolic of the Dutch origin of the city, the tulip is a flower extensively cultivated and nurtured in the Netherlands, although also extensively grown in North
America.
- Schenectady is featured in Dr. Seuss's I Can Read With My Eyes Shut.
- Schenectady is featured in a poem by Eve Merriam called "Schenectady."
- Schenectady is featured in a poem by Medora Addison called "Names."
- Schenectady's General Electric plant has the ZIP Code 12345.
- Schenectady is the hometown of the character Grace Adler on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.
- Schenectady is also the hometown of the character Marc St. James on the ABC sitcom "Ugly Betty."
Schenectady is featured in the Fountains Of Wayne song "Somebody To Love".
- There is a collection of science-fiction short stories by Barry Longyear entitled It Came from Schenectady. The title is from Harlan Ellison's reply -- often repeated -- when people asked Ellison, "Where do you get your ideas?"
- Schenectady is the former home of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2005 the Hall moved to Amsterdam.
- The fictional comic book character Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man is from Schenectady.
- Schenectady introduced the first commercial television station with the creation of WRGB in 1940.
- The world's first commerical TV station, WRGB still broadcasts each day from its Balltown Road studios in Niskyuna, just outside the city line, but still in Schenectady County.
- The title character of Henry James' novella Daisy Miller is from Schenectady.
- The official song of Schenectady, entitled "Our Schenectady," was composed by John Van Laak and was sung by Judi Merriam. It was adopted by the Schenectady City Council on January 30, 1995. Its lyrics are:
In Schenectady
Our Schenectady
What a warm and friendly place it is to be
Nestled among plains and hills
With a beautiful river that always gives us thrills
And stores and shops with all that one might need or wish to see
And legends and tales and lots of history
Oh Schenectady
Our Schenectady
Let us now plan and help to make it grow
If we will all do our best
Then others can do the rest
For places to study and learn in
Places to work and earn in
Places to live in happiness
Source: Daily Gazette January 31, 1995 p. B1
- In the fall of 1972, director Sydney Pollack filmed for two weeks on the Union College campus for the flashback sequences of the movie The Way We Were, starring Robert
Redford and Barbra Streisand.
- Episode 224 of "This American Life" entitled 'Middlemen' features a story on then Mayor Al Jurczynski's campaign to draw Guyanese immigrants from the Bronx to Schenectady
- Schenectady is jokingly mentioned in the popular Magazine "Mad" as "100% Celine Dion Free".
- When asked where he got his ideas, Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, replied "Schenectady."
- The Schenectady Art Show is mentioned in the Stephen King Novel "Firestarter"
- Schenectady is featured in the 1995 Steven Pressfield novel The Legend of Bagger Vance.
- Schenectady is mentioned in the theme song of the TV series "VeggieTales."
- Schenectady is referenced in the Fountains of Wayne song "Someone To Love".
- Schenectady is mentioned in episodes of "The Cosby Show" when Heathcliff's father refers to working on the railroad and passing through Schenectady. In one episode, Denise even has trouble saying Schenectady while Heathcliff helps her pronounce it.
- Schenectady is mentioned in FOX's "MAD TV" in a skit portraying Hilary Clinton's Campaign Trail for Senate, where Mayor Al Jurczynski discusses Schenectadys History, and Hilary Clinton comments on it
- The title of the upcoming film Synecdoche, New York is a play on Schenectady. Some of the story of the movie will take place in Schenectady. The film will star Philip Seymour Hoffman, among others.
Source: Wikipedia
