Canton

History

Humans have been present in this region of New York since the Paleo-Indian period which is from about 15,000 to 7,000 BC. Iroquoian peoples arrived between 1,200 and 4,000 years ago, and both the Mohawk and the Oneida consider the Adirondacks to be part of their territory. When white settlers began to arrive, the area was part of the Mohawk Nation, which was part of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Mohawks are known as Kanienkehaka, or "the people of the flint," and they were considered the keepers of the Eastern door for this edge of Haudenosaunee territory. The first settler arrived in 1800. The town was organized/incorporated on May 14, 1805, from part of the town of Lisbon. The name Canton was supposedly selected due to contemporary interests in the China trade. Canton was one of the original ten towns of the county. In 1845, the community of Canton was incorporated as a village with many arrivals from the State of Vermont who resettled to the United States to avoid territorial between the United States and Canada over the 48th Parallel line. The Brick Chapel Church and Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Geography

After the War of 1812, the sovereign territory known as Akwesasne was bisected in two when the United States and Great Britain drew a line on a map, creating today's northern border between New York state and Canada. Now the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation sits in both countries, with borders of its own. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.03%, are water. The Grasse River flows northward through the centre of St. Lawrence County, and the Oswegatchie River flows through the northwest corner. U.S. Route 11 is a northeast–southwest highway, which intersects New York State Route 68 and New York State Route 310 at Canton village.

Race & ethnicity