Historical Montgomery County, NY

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About Historical Montgomery County, NY

Slightly off the beaten path from from the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan area, Montgomery County, NY retains much of its historical flavor even today.

With much of the land in the county's ten towns still being rural, the farms and hamlets dotting the backroads probably don't look much different than when the area was first being settled -- called Tryon County back in the time of the American Revolution.

Montgomery County isn't all rural, however. Along the Mohawk River, especially after the construction of the Erie Canal, more densely populated areas arose. The City of Amsterdam and villages like Canjoharie, Fonda and Fultonville are examples of such places. Many vintage homes and buildings are still standing. Descendants of the early settlers still live in the area while their dead rest close by in zillions of small family cemeteries.

Montgomery County's more recent past includes milltowns with tons of factories making everything from rugs to cloth to leather to brooms. And then there were the cheese factories out in dairy country.

The purpose of this group is to show Montgomery County, NY as it reflects its past. What does that mean?

1)Old architecture is great. If you've got photos of interesting old houses, factories, churches or other buildings in Montgomery County, by all means, add them to the pool. If structures are abandoned and dilapidated, that's fine, too.

2)Got photos of old farms, old farmhouses, old barns, rural scenes? Toss them in the pool, too.

3)Old cemeteries in Montgomery County? Yup. Let's see your photos The more, the merrier!

4)Photos of historical markers (like the ones from the state education department or local historical societies) and places like Fort Klock, Fort Johnson etc.? Bring them on.

5)Got photos of the remains of the old Erie Canal in Montgomery County? Feel free to add them to the pool.

6)Have old photos of your ancestors hanging out at the farm or downtown or wherever way back when in Montgomery County? Yes, please. It would be great to see these photos.

7)Vintage postcards? Please do add them to our pool.

8)Photos of historical things that I forgot to mention? By all means, add them to the pool.

Feel free to write as much (or as little) as you'd like about your photos, but at a minimum PLEASE BE SURE TO (1) TAG THE PHOTO WITH THE LOCATION WHERE IT WAS TAKEN and (2) GIVE THE PHOTO A TITLE SO WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. The rest of us may want to visit the location, too!

Here's a map of Montgomery County in case you need one.