Meet Uncle Sam: Troy's Most Famous Export

Troy carries an odd bit of national trivia: it's the official hometown of Uncle Sam.

The nickname traces back to Samuel Wilson, a Troy meatpacker who supplied barrels of meat to U.S. troops during the War of 1812, stamped with the initials "U.S." Soldiers reportedly began joking that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam" Wilson, and the nickname for government supplies — and eventually the government itself — stuck.

The city leans into it. There's an Uncle Sam statue downtown near River and Fulton Streets, and Troy has held an Uncle Sam Parade every September since 1976.

It's a fun, mostly-forgotten piece of history for a city this size to claim — and a good bit of trivia to bring up next time you're walking off breakfast downtown.

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