Timeline of town creation in New York's North Country

Counties of the North Country highlighted

The towns and cities of New York's North Country were created by the U.S. state of New York as municipalities in order to give residents more direct say over local government.^[1] The North Country consists of Clinton County, Essex County, Franklin County, Jefferson County, Lewis County, and St. Lawrence County. When counties were first formed in 1683 the entire area was theoretically under the jurisdiction of Albany County though actually wilderness inhabited by Native Americans, by 1764 most of the area became effectively controlled by Albany County. The state would sell off this land to settlers and speculators, most notably as part of the Old Military Tract (1786) to veterans of the US Revolutionary War and as Macomb's Purchase (1791) to Alexander Macomb.^[2] In 1772 the northern and western portions of Albany County was divided into two counties– Tryon and Charlotte. Tryon encompassed Lewis, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties along with the western section of Franklin; Tryon was renamed Montgomery in 1784. Charlotte encompassed Clinton, Essex, and the majority of Franklin County; the name of the county was changed to Washington County in 1784. In 1788 Clinton County was split from Washington, Essex was formed from Clinton in 1799 and Franklin was formed from Clinton in 1808. Montgomery County's North Country area went to Herkimer County on that county's formation in 1791, but western Franklin and eastern St. Lawrence were returned to Montgomery in 1797. In 1798 Lewis, Jefferson, and western St. Lawrence became part of the newly formed Oneida County from Herkimer in 1798, leaving only central St. Lawrence County as part of Herkimer. In 1801 the future St. Lawrence and Franklin counties which were portions of Montgomery, Herkimer, and Oneida were transferred to Clinton County; the next year in 1802 St. Lawrence was formed as a county. In 1805 both Lewis and Jefferson counties were formed from Oneida County.^[3]

In 1785, the township of Plattsburgh was formed in Washington County, and the next year all of Washington County was divided into townships, including the formation of Crown Point township which included all of future Essex County while Plattsburgh was expanded to include most of future Clinton County and Franklin counties.^[1] Towns in Franklin can all be traced back to Chateaugay, formed in 1799 a descendant of Plattsburgh. All the towns of Jefferson and Lewis counties can be traced back to Whitestown a town formed in Montgomery County in 1788. In 1801, a year before St. Lawrence County was formed the area of the county, which was 10 survey townships, was combined as the town of Lisbon, all towns in the county are descended from Lisbon.^[4]

New York experimented with different types of municipalities before settling upon the current format of towns and cities occupying all the land in a county,^[5] and all previous forms were transformed into towns (or divided into multiple towns) in 1788 when all of the state of New York was divided into towns.^[1] Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts,^[6] precincts,^[7] and boroughs.^[8] Though originally intended to be mere “…involuntary subdivisions of the state, constituted for the purpose of the more convenient exercise of governmental functions by the state for the benefit of all its citizens” as defined by the courts in 1916 (Short v. Town of Orange), towns gained home rule powers from the state in 1964, at which time towns became "a municipal corporation comprising the inhabitants within its boundaries, and formed with the purpose of exercising such powers and discharging such duties of local government and administration of public affairs as have been, or, maybe [sic] conferred or imposed upon it by law.”^[9]

The following is a timeline showing the creation of the current towns from their predecessors stretching back to the earliest municipal entity over the area. The timelines only represent which town(s) a particular town was created from and does not represent annexations of territory to and from towns that already existed. All municipalities are towns unless otherwise noted as patent, township, borough, district, or city.

Essex County

Crown Point[A] township 1786-1788

Willsboro[B] 1788

For further descendents see Clinton and Franklin counties

Crown Point[B] 1788

Ticonderoga[C] 1804

Lewis[C] 1805

Essex[C] 1805

Chesterfield[C] 1802

Jay[B] 1798

Dansville[D] 1821 (Wilmington from 1822)

St. Armand[C] 1844

Keene[C] 1808

North Elba[C] 1849

Schroon[C] 1804

Minerva[C] 1817

Newcomb[C] 1828

Moriah[C] 1808

North Hudson[C] 1848

Elizabethtown[B] 1798

Westport[C] 1815

Notes

[A] = A part of Washington County.

[B] = A part of Clinton County until 1799, thereafter Essex County.

[C] = A part of Essex County.

Clinton and Franklin counties

For further descendants see Essex County

For antecendents  see Essex County

Willsboro[B] 1788

Peru[D] 1792

Au Sable[D] 1839

Black Brook[D] 1839

Champlain[D] 1788

Mooers[D] 1804

Ellenburg[D] 1830

Clinton[D] 1845

Chazy[D] 1804

Altona[D] 1857

Chateaugay[E] 1799

Burke[F] 1844

Bellmont[F] 1833

Franklin[F] 1836

Westville[F] 1829

Harrison 1805 (Ezraville from 1808; Malone[E] from 1812)

Constable[E] 1807

Fort Covington[F] 1817

Bombay[F] 1833

Duane[F] 1828

Brighton[F] 1858

Harrietstown[F] 1841

Dickinson[E] 1808

Moira[E] 1828

Bangor[F] 1812

Brandon[F] 1828

Santa Clara[F] 1888[10]

Waverly[F] 1880[10]

Altamont 1890 (Tupper Lake[F] from 2004)[11]

Plattsburgh[A] township 1785[4]-1788[1]

Plattsburgh[D] 1788[1]

Saranac[D] 1824

Beekmantown[D] 1820

Dannemora[D] 1854

Schuyler Falls[D] 1854

Plattsburgh[D] City 1902[12]

Notes

[A] = A part of Washington County.

[B] = A part of Clinton County until 1799, thereafter Essex County.

[C] = A part of Essex County.

[D] = A part of Clinton County.

[E] = A part of Clinton County until 1808, thereafter Franklin County.

[F] = A part of Franklin County.

St Lawrence County

Lisbon[A] 1801

Canton 1805

Waddington 1859

Madrid 1802

Potsdam 1806

Ogdensburg City 1868[13]

Oswegatchie 1802

Gouverneur 1810

Macomb 1841

Morristown 1821

De Kalb 1806

De Peyster 1810

Massena 1802

Stockholm 1806

Norfolk 1823

Louisville 1810

Clifton 1868[14]

Hermon 1834

Brasher 1825

Lawrence 1828

Clare 1880[14]

Hammond 1827

Pierrepont 1818

Fowler 1816

Edwards 1827

Hopkinton 1805

Russell 1807

Pitcairn 1836

Rossie 1813

Fine 1844

Piercefield 1901[15]

Parishville 1818

Colton 1843

Notes

• Ten survey townships were created within Oneida, Herkimer, and Montgomery counties in what is today St. Lawrence County, and in 1801 they were combined into one town called Lisbon and made part of Clinton County. In 1802 Lisbon became the county of St Lawrence and three more towns were split from the original Lisbon.^[16]

[A] = A part of Clinton County until 1802, thereafter St. Lawrence County.

Lewis County

Denmark[F] 1807

Whitestown[A] 1788

Mexico[D] 1782

Lowville[E] 1800

Harrisburg[E] 1803

Champion[G] 1800

Pinckney[F] 1808

Adams[G] 1802

Harrison 1804 (Rodman[G] from 1808)

Turin[E] 1800

Martinsburg[E] 1803

High Market[F] 1852[4]-1973[17]

For further descendants see Central New York

West Turin[F] 1830

Osceola[F] 1844

Montague[F] 1850

Steuben[B] 1792

Leyden[C] 1797

Lewis[F] 1852

Watson[F] 1821

Brantingham 1828 (Greig[F] from 1832)

Lyonsdale[F] 1873[18]

New Bremen[F] 1848

Diana[F] 1830

Croghan[F] 1841

Notes

[A] = A part of Montgomery County until 1791, Herkimer County from 1791 to 1798, then Oneida County from 1798.

[B] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, Oneida County thereafter.

[C] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, then Oneida County until 1805, thereafter Lewis County.

[D] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, then Oneida County until 1816, thereafter Oswego County.

[E] = A part of Oneida County until 1805, thereafter Lewis County.

[F] = A part of Lewis County.

[G] = A part of Oneida County until 1805, thereafter Jefferson County.

Jefferson County

Alexandria 1821

Theresa 1841

Whitestown[A] 1788

Steuben[B] 1792

Leyden[C] 1797

Brownville[E] 1802

Le Roy 1806

Antwerp 1810

Philadelphia 1821

Wilna 1813

For further descendants see Central New York

Pamelia 1819

Orleans 1821

Mexico[D] 1792

Malta 1804 (Lorraine[E] from 1808)

Worth 1848

Champion[E] 1800

For further descendants see Lewis County

Adams 1802

Harrison 1804 (Rodman from 1808)

For further descendants see Lewis County

Ellisburg 1803

Henderson 1806

Clayton 1833

Watertown 1800

Watertown city 1869[19]

Hounsfield 1806

Rutland 1802

Lyme 1818

Cape Vincent 1849

Notes

[A] = A part of Montgomery County until 1791, Herkimer County from 1791 to 1798, then Oneida County from 1798.

[B] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, Oneida County thereafter.

[C] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, then Oneida County until 1805, thereafter Lewis County.

[D] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, then Oneida County until 1816, thereafter Oswego County.

[E] = A part of Oneida County until 1805, thereafter Jefferson County.

[F] = A part of Jefferson County.

See also

• Timeline of town creation in Downstate New York
• Timeline of town creation in the Hudson Valley
• Timeline of town creation in New York's Capital District
• Timeline of town creation in Central New York

References

General

• French, John H. (1860). Gazetteer of the State of New York. R. Pearsall Smith.

Specific

1. Laws of the State of New York Passed at the Sessions of the Legislature Held in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787 and 1788, inclusive, Being the Eight, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh, sessions. II. Weed, Parsons and Company/State of New York. 1886. p. 103 & 748. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
2. "Franklin County:History". Franklin County. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
3. "New York County Maps and Atlases". Genealogy, Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
4. French, John H. (1860). Gazetteer of the State of New York. R. Pearsall Smith.
5. "Governmental Units". John B. Deitz. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
6. The Colonial Laws of the State of New York From 1664 to the Revolution, Including the Charters to the Duke of York, the Commissions and Instructions to the Colonial Governors, the Duke's Laws, the Laws of Dongan and Leisler Assemblies, the Charters of Albany and New York and the Acts of the Colonial Legislatures from 1691 to 1775 Inclusive. V. James B. Lyon (State of New York). 1894. p. 383 and 395. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
7. The Colonial Laws of the State of New York From 1664 to the Revolution, Including the Charters to the Duke of York, the Commissions and Instructions to the Colonial Governors, the Duke's Laws, the Laws of Dongan and Leisler Assemblies, the Charters of Albany and New York and the Acts of the Colonial Legislatures from 1691 to 1775 Inclusive. II. John B. Lyon. 1894. p. 956.
8. Howell, George Rogers; Munsell, John H. (1886). History of the County of Schenectady, N.Y., from 1662 to 1886. W.W. Munsell & Company.
9. "Local Government Handbook" (PDF) (5th ed.). New York State Department of State. 2008. pp. 60 (PDF 64). Retrieved 2010-10-05.
10. Seaver, Frederick J. (1918). Historical Sketches of Franklin County and its Several Towns with Many Short Biographies. J.B. Lyon Company. p. VII.
11. "Town of Tupper Lake". Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
12. Bailey, Jim. "City of Plattsburgh: City Historian". Retrieved 2010-10-17.
13. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the Ninety-First Session of the Legislature, Begun January Seventh, 1868, and Ended May Sixth, 1868, in the City of Albany. I. Van Benhuysen & Sons' Steam Printing House/State of New York. 1868. p. 715.
14. Curtis, Gates, ed. (1894). "Our County and its People: A Memorial Record of St. Lawrence County, New York". The Brown History Company.
15. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Session of the Legislature, Begun January Second, 1901, and Ended April Twenty-Third, 1901, in the City of Albany. II. J.B. Lyon Company/State of New York. 1901. p. 1827.
16. Curtis, Gates, ed. (1894). Our County and Its People: A Memorial Record of St. Lawrence County New York. D. Mason & Company, Publishers.
17. "Local Government Count" (PDF). New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness. p. 7.
18. Hough, Franklin B. (1883). "History of Lewis County, New York and its People". D. Mason & Co. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
19. "City of Watertown". Jefferson County NYGenWeb. Retrieved 2010-10-17.