Fonda

History

The village of Fonda developed near the site of the former Mohawk village of Caughnawaga, also known as Kahnawà:ke. Here the Mohawk had cultivated corn in the floodplain on the north side of the Mohawk River. In the late 17th century, Kateri Tekakwitha resettled here. She was a Mohawk girl who had converted to Catholicism and become renowned for her piety. She lived here with relatives after her parents died in a smallpox epidemic. She had survived but was marked by scars. She was later canonized as the first Native American saint. A national Catholic shrine devoted to her was established here and is a pilgrimage destination. After the French attacked the village in the late 17th century, Kateri and many other Catholic Mohawks moved to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake, established on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Montreal in Quebec. Later European settlers in this area were mostly English and German. They officially organized the present-day village in 1751 at the former site of Kanatsiohareke. The settlement was later named for Douw Fonda, a Dutch-American settler who was scalped in a Mohawk raid during the Revolutionary War, when the Mohawk were allied with the British.

Geography

Fonda is located in northeastern Montgomery County at (42.954342, -74.375424), along the southern edge of the town of Mohawk. The southern boundary of the village and town is the Mohawk River, an east-flowing tributary of the Hudson. The Erie Canal is part of the Mohawk River at this point. The village of Fultonville borders Fonda to the south across the river. New York State Route 5, New York State Route 30A, and New York State Route 334 all serve Fonda, with NY 334 having its southern terminus at NY 5 at the western end. NY-5 leads east to Amsterdam and southwest to Palatine Bridge, while NY-30A leads north to Johnstown and south to Sloansville. NY-334 leads northwest from Fonda to Sammonsville. The New York State Thruway (Interstate 90 passes through Fultonville, just south of Fonda, with access from Exit 28. The Thruway leads southeast to the Albany area and west to the Utica area. Amtrak's Empire Corridor passes through the village, though it has no station here; the closest stations are Amsterdam to the east and Utica to the west. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village of Fonda has a total area of , of which are land and , or 11.35%, are water. Cayadutta Creek joins the Mohawk River at Fonda.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• AMSTERDAM HIGH SCHOOL
  High · AMSTERDAM · 1,179 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• WILBUR H LYNCH LITERACY ACADEMY
  Middle · AMSTERDAM · 817 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• FONDA-FULTONVILLE K-4 SCHOOL
  Elementary · FONDA · 525 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• HAMILTON-FULTON-MONTGOMERY BOCES
  Other · JOHNSTOWN · 489 students · 6.4:1 ratio
• RAPHAEL J MCNULTY ACADEMY FOR INTERN STUDIES & LITERACY
  Elementary · AMSTERDAM · 447 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• FONDA-FULTONVILLE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · FONDA · 389 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• FONDA-FULTONVILLE 5-8 SCHOOL
  Middle · FONDA · 363 students · 10.7:1 ratio
• WILLIAM H BARKLEY MICROSOCIETY
  Elementary · AMSTERDAM · 305 students · 14.5:1 ratio