Many clubs are named for their inventors; the Schenectady putter is called that because its first proponents knew the club emanated from the upstate city of Schenectady, New York.

The club was invented in late 1901 or early 1902 by Arthur F. "Frank" Knight, an engineer at the local General Electric plant. Knight, an avid golfer, was member of the Mohawk Golf Club and built the first prototype clubs in the shed behind his house. By 1902 he had perfected his putter and its first big success soon came in the hands of Walter Travis as he tied for second in the 1902 US Open. In the 1903 U.S. Amateur Championship, Travis was victorious with the Schenectady.

Travis made the transatlantic trip to Sandwich, England for the British Amateur in 1904 where the he once again prevailed with his Schenectady. A blunt and straight forward man, Travis made remarks at the championship dinner that irritated some British golfers who were exceedingly angered at having lost their trophy to a foreign golfer for the first time. Travis's use of the Schenectady was duly noted but little else was said about it.

Four years later, a freak turn of history brought Knight’s club back into the headlines. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club (of St. Andrews) Committee on the Rules of Golf declared illegal a group of clubs, mostly center-shafted in design, beginning January 1911. Adding fuel to the ensuing controversy the U.S.G.A did not ban the Schenectady interpreting the British ruling differently. In 1959, the R & A finally lifted its ban on center-shafted clubs.

Over the years the Schenectady putter was a smashing commercial success. The club was patented by Knight but it was reproduced by almost every major maker of golf clubs. The first American models were produced by Knight and a local company called the Schenectady Putter Co. Quick on its heels, Spalding began selling an identical club in 1903 later followed by some variations (models HH and NH). Marketing giants the Standard Golf Company (CS, CSA and CSR models) MacGregor (model 4), Spalding and Harry C. Lee accounted for the most sales. Waverly Horton made a copy he called the "Pay Me" in the 1920s. In Britain, F.H. Ayers, Lillywhite's and the British Golf Company were the primary firms selling Schenectady putters beside Mills.

Schenectady style putters were produced in materials other than aluminum. Spalding (model 10), MacGregor (models 331 and WW) and Burke made Schenectady-type putter variations in wood, some with brass face plates, some without. Ralph "Tug" Tyler sold his copy of the wood Schenectady with a single piece of brass bent 90 degrees to cover the face and the sole. The Kempshall company, whose clubs were molded in black pyralin, added a Schenectady shaped putter in 1904.

For collectors, the scarcest of the Schenectadies are the early models with the "Patent Pending" legend on the back of the club. By late 1903 this was replaced with the "Schenectady Putter, Pat. Mar. 24, 1903" and most of these were made by Harry C. Lee under license to Knight. Copies from most other makers do not carry this legend. There are thousands of Schenectady-type putters available for collectors and the club is far from being scarce. Still it is one of the most popular of all collectible clubs and there is hardly a collection that does not house a Schenectady of some sort within it.