Charlottenburgh and Lancaster were two of the original eight "Royal Townships", established along the Saint Lawrence River in Upper Canada in the 1780s.

[3] Some of the main partners of the North West Company, including Hugh McGillis, lived in this area.

Alexander McMartin, the first person born in Upper Canada to serve in the Legislative Assembly, was from Martintown.

Williamstown is also home to Ontario's oldest continuing agricultural fair,[4] which celebrated its bicentennial in 2012.

[9] St. Raphael's Catholic Church was completed in 1821 under the authority of Alexander Macdonell later Bishop of Regiopolis (now Kingston, Ontario).