Located along the banks of the Erie Canal, which was completed through the Mohawk River valley by 1825, Canastota was a vibrant trading and commercial town during the mid-nineteenth century for a wide agricultural area and an important stop between the cities of Rome and Syracuse.

[4] The village of Canastota is in the southern part of the town of Lenox and is the home to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Kniste Stota was the historic name of Canastota, a term used by the local Oneida people, meaning "cluster of pines near still waters".

[citation needed][5] The area that makes up Canastota was once inhabited by people of the Oneida Nation, a member of the Haudenosanee confederacy.

[6] The village was founded by Captain Reuben Perkins, a veteran of the Revolutionary War who served in the battles of Plattsburgh, Saratoga, and Stony Point.

In 1800 Captain Perkins moved his family to a log cabin on Quality Hill, along the Seneca Turnpike.

Workers and their employers soon moved their families to the area, and eventually schools, businesses, and religious organizations sprung up.

As soon as this section of the canal was opened, a line of packets was established, making regular trips between Syracuse and Utica, stopping at all intermediate towns.

The first post office was established in 1829 with Ichabod S. Spencer as postmaster, and by 1831 there were three public houses, three stores and a hatter business in the village, and the population totaled 406.

On the first and second days of September 1852, the national convention of the Liberty Party was held at the Dutch Reformed Church in Canastota.

[9] The 170th anniversary of the convention was celebrated in 2022, attended by representatives from the village of Canastota, the town of Lenox, and the William G. Pomeroy foundation.

Just after 1:30am the following morning, another fire was discovered in a small barn on Spencer Street which soon spread to the Eagle Hotel and other surrounding dwellings and businesses.

Urged forward by fierce winds, the fire soon raged through several blocks, leaving smoldering ruins in its wake.

New York State Route 13 passes through the center of Canastota as Peterboro Street and leads north 9 miles (14 km) to Sylvan Beach at the east end of Oneida Lake.

The presence of fertile soils made Canastota an agricultural center in Central New York and a source of vegetables for the region.

Eventually, they also saw use in World War I, when France and the United States purchased 15,000 wagons to carry engineering equipment and artillery.

The factory, for some time, was operated by Oneida Limited, and then by Henney Motor Company, where some of the United States' first electric automobiles were made.