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Timeline of town creation in Central New York facts for kids

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The towns and cities of Central New York were created by the U.S. state of New York as municipalities in order to give residents more direct say over local government. Central New York (consisting of the Syracuse Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Utica-Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area) is a six county area–Cayuga, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego.

The entire area was nominally under the jurisdiction of Albany County from 1686 until the Royal Proclamation of 1763 but truly under the Iroquois Confederacy until 1777. The area was then nominally Tryon County from 1781 and effectively in 1784 when the county was renamed Montgomery, and then the area was part of Herkimer County from 1791.

Simeon DeWitt Central NY Military Tract c.1792
The Military Tract of Central New York (1792).

In 1794 the western section of Herkimer County was split off as Onondaga County, and then in 1798 the northwestern section of Herkimer was removed as Oneida County and the southwestern section as Chenango County. Cayuga County was removed from Onondaga in 1799, Madison County from Chenango in 1806, and Oswego from Onondaga and Oneida in 1816.

The current towns of Herkimer, Oneida, and Madison counties are descended from the original districts and towns of Montgomery County; whereas the towns of Onondaga and Cayuga counties are descended from the towns erected by the state when Onondaga County was formed from the Military Tract in western Herkimer County which had previously been divided into townships for the purpose of surveying of lands to be sold to veterans of the US Revolutionary War.

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, 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. Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts, precincts, and boroughs. 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.”

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 from 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.

Cayuga County

Cayuga County
A map of the towns and villages in Cayuga County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aurelius
1794
 
Auburn
1823-1848
 
Auburn
City 1848
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brutus
1802
 
Sennett
1827
 
 
Throop
1859
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cato
1802
 
Sterling
1812
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Conquest
1812
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ira
1821
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Victory
1812
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jefferson 1802
(Mentz from 1808)
 
Montezuma
1859
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Owasco
1802
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fleming
1823
 
 
 
 
 
 
Springport
1823
 
 
Scipio
1794
 
Venice
1823
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ledyard
1823
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sempronius
1799
 
Moravia
1833
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Niles
1833
 
Milton 1794
(Genoa from 1808)
 
Locke
1802
 
Plato 1831
(Summer Hill
from 1832)
 
 
[A] = A part of Montgomery County until 1791, then Herkimer County from 1791-1794,
Onondaga County from 1794-1799, and Cayuga County from 1799 and thereafter.
[B] = A part of Onondaga County until 1799 thereafter Cayuga County.
[C] = A part of Cayuga County.
  • Prior to the creation of Onondaga County the western section of Herkimer County was the Military Tract. This tract included present-day Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca counties, and parts of Oswego, Tompkins, and Wayne; and was divided into 25 townships for surveying purposes to provide land for veterans of the US Revolutionary War. Three more townships were created in order to settle all claims. Originally simply numbered, they latter received names, mostly classical Greek and Roman names. In creating Onondaga County in 1794 the state of New York combined the townships into 11 towns. Milton (17), Locke (18), Scipio (12), Sempronius (13), Cato (3), Brutus (4), and Aurelius (8) were the townships in present-day Cayuga County, which were combined in 1794 into the towns of Milton (Milton and Locke townships), Scipio (Scipio and Sempronius townships), and Aurelius (Cato, Brutus, and Aurelius townships).

Herkimer County

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
German Flatts
District 1772-1788
(Kingsland
from 1773)
 
German Flatts
1788
 
Frankfort
1796
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Warren
1796
 
Columbia
1812
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Litchfield
1796
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Winfield
1816
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richfield 1792
 
Plainfield
1799
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Otsego
1788
 
 
For further
descendants see
Otsego County.
 
 
For further
descendants see
Otsego County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Little Falls
1829
 
Little Falls
City 1895
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oneida County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Schuyler
1792
 
 
 
 
 
 
Newport
1806
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kingsland Precinct
1772-1788
(German Flatts
from 1773)
 
Herkimer
1788
 
 
Norway
1792
 
Fairfield
1796
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
West Brunswick
1823
(Ohio from 1836)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oneida County
 
 
Union 1806
(Russia from 1808)
 
 
Wilmurt
1836-1896
 
Webb
1896
 
 
 
 
 
Stone Arabia
Precinct 1772-1788
(Palatine from 1773)
 
Palatine
1788
 
Salisbury
1797
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manheim
1817
 
Canajoharie
Precinct 1772-1788
 
Canajoharie
1788
 
Minden
1798
 
Danube
1817
 
Stark
1828
 
 
 
 
[A] = A part of Montgomery (Named Tryon County prior to 1784).
[B] = A part of Montgomery County until 1791, thereafter Herkimer County.
[C] = A part of Montgomery County until 1791, thereafter Otsego County.
[D] = A part of Otsego County.
[E] = A part of Montgomery County until annexed to Herkimer County in 1817.
[F] = A part of Herkimer County.
[G] = A part of Oneida County.

Madison County

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oneida
1896–1901
 
Oneida
City 1901
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lincoln
1896
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sullivan
1803
 
Lenox
1809
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DeRuyter
1798
 
Georgetown
1815
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oneida County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stockbridge
1836
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Whitestown
1788
 
 
 
 
 
Cazenovia
1795
 
 
Nelson
1807
 
Smithfield
1807
 
Fenner
1823
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paris
1792
 
Brookfield
1795
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hamilton
1795
 
Eaton
1807
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oneida County
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lebanon
1807
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Madison
1807
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Augusta
1798
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Westmoreland
1792
 
Vernon
1802
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oneida County
 
 
 
 
 
[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 Chenango until 1806, thereafter Madison County.
[D] = A part of Chenango County until 1806, then Madison County thereafter Oswego County.
[E] = A part of Oneida County.
[F] = A part of Madison County.

Oneida County

 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oswego County
 
 
Whitestown
1788
 
 
Utica
1817-1832
 
Utica
City 1832
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants
see North Country
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Steuben
1792
 
Leyden
1797
 
 
Boonville
1805
 
Ava
1846
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Western
1797
 
Lee
1811
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
New Hartford
1827
 
 
Floyd
1796
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rome
1796-1870
 
Rome
City 1870
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paris
1792
 
Sangerfield
1795
 
Bridgewater
1797
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kirkland
1827
 
Marshall
1829
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Madison County
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Madison County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oswego County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mexico
1792
 
Camden
1799
 
Orange 1807
(Bengal from 1808-1816,
Vienna from 1816)
 
 
Annsville
1823
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants
see North Country
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Augusta
1798
 
For further
descendants see
Madison County
 
 
Florence
1805
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Verona
1802
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Westmoreland
1792
 
Vernon
1802
 
Sherrill
City 1916
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Madison County
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kingsland 1772-1788
(German Flatts from 1773)
 
Herkimer
1788
 
Schuyler
1792
 
Trenton
1797
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Deerfield
1798
 
Marcy
1832
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further descendants
see Herkimer County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Norway
1792
 
Remsen
1798
 
Forestport
1869
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further descendants
see Herkimer County
 
 
For further descendants
see Herkimer County
 
 
[A] = A part of Montgomery County (known as Tryon County prior to 1784).
[B] = A part of Montomgery County until 1791, thereafter Herkimer County.
[C] = A part of Montgomery County until 1791, Herkimer County from 1791 to 1798, then Oneida County from 1798.
[D] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, Oneida County thereafter.
[E] = A part of Herkimer County.
[F] = A part of Oneida County.
[G] = A part of Madison County.
[H] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, then Oneida County until 1805, thereafter Lewis County.
[I] = A part of Herkimer County until 1798, then Oneida County until 1816, thereafter Oswego County.
[J] = A part of Oswego County.
  • The city of Sherrill is considered in some circumstances of law to be a village under the jurisdiction of the town of Vernon.

Onondaga County

Towns in Onondaga County, New York
A map of the towns, villages, city, and Native American reservations in Onondaga County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Otisco
1806
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fabius
1798
 
Tully
1803
 
Spafford
1811
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pompey
1794
 
 
 
 
 
LaFayette
1825
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marcellus
1794
 
 
 
 
 
 
Onondaga
1798
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Salina
1809
 
Geddes
1848
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Manlius
1794
 
DeWitt
1835
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Syracuse
City 1847
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Skaneateles
1830
 
Camillus
1799
 
Van Buren
1829
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elbridge
1829
 
  • Prior to the creation of Onondaga County the western section of Herkimer County was the Military Tract. This tract included present-day Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca counties, and parts of Oswego, Tompkins, and Wayne; and was divided into 25 townships for surveying purposes to provide land for veterans of the US Revolutionary War. Three more townships were created in order to settle all claims. Originally simply numbered, they latter received names, mostly classical Greek and Roman names. In creating Onondaga County in 1794 the state of New York combined the townships into 11 towns. Pompey (10), Tully (14), Fabius (15), Manlius (7), Camillus (5), and Marcellus (9) occupied present-day Onondaga, and were combined as the towns of Pompey (Pompey, Tully, and Fabius townships), Marcellus (Camillus and Marcellus townships), and Manlius.

Oswego County

Map of Towns in Oswego County, New York
A map of towns and cities located in Oswego County
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Minetto
1916
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oswego
1818
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lysander
1794
 
Hannibal
1806
 
 
Granby
1818
 
Fulton
City 1902
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oswego
City 1848
 
 
 
 
Whitestown
1788
 
Mexico
1792
 
Fredericksburgh 1811
(Volney
from 1806)
 
Scriba
1811
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
New Haven
1813
 
 
Schroeppel
1832
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For further
descendants see
Oneida County
 
 
Parish
1828
 
 
Palermo
1832
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Williamstown
1804
 
Amboy
1830
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richland
1807
 
Albion
1825
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Redfield
1800
 
Greenboro
1843-1848
 
 
Sandy Creek
1825
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Constantia
1808
 
Hastings
1825
 
 
Orwell
1817
 
Boylston
1828
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
West Monroe
1839
 
[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, then Oneida County until 1816, thereafter Oswego County.
[C] = A part of Oneida County.
[D] = A part of Oneida County until 1816, Oswego County thereafter.
[E] = A part of Oswego County.
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Timeline of town creation in Central New York Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.