The village is named after a fort built during the American Revolution at the junction of the Mohawk River and its tributary Otsquago Creek.

[2] The village of Fort Plain is at the border of the Towns of Minden and Canajoharie and is west of Amsterdam.

Because of its small size and the close connections with neighboring communities, some former residents who now live in more populous regions use Fort Plain to refer collectively to the village of Fort Plain and the surrounding villages of Nelliston, and Palatine Bridge.

Tionondogue, also called Tionnontogen, was located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Fort Plain.

Other early settlers included Palatine Germans, whom the Mohawk had permitted to settle in exchange for gaining help with their defenses in 1712 from Queen Anne of England.

Anne's government had supported immigration of the Protestant Germans as religious refugees and paid for their passage, for which they exchanged work in New York in camps along the Hudson River.

As the Mohawk requested, Queen Anne ordered the construction of Fort Hunter in 1711 near Tionondoraga; that village was also known by Europeans as the "Lower Castle.

The opening of the Erie Canal was an economic boom, stimulating the village to become a center of manufacturing during the nineteenth century.

Fort Plain is the birthplace of Bud Fowler, the first black professional baseball player.

[citation needed] Numerous Amish have migrated to New York from Pennsylvania since the late 20th century, seeking affordable farm land.

Ten miles upstream, Stark received 7 inches of rain, which entered the creek and washed its bed away.

The state quickly started the extensive work needed to repair the stream bed, nearby roadways and other infrastructure.