Harvey was a member of the Sons of Liberty, an eminent colonial-era group that fought against Great Britain's Stamp Act of 1765.

According to The Jesuit Relations, prior to European colonization, the region was inhabited by the Scahentoarrhonon people, an Iroquoian-speaking group.

Harveys Lake became a major resort destination in the early 20th century, attracting tourists from all over the Northeast.

The grand Hotel Oneonta was especially prominent in the early 1900s; former United States President Theodore Roosevelt was a guest in August 1912.

[5] From 1952 to 1956, Pennsylvania State Senator T. Newell Wood hosted the Brynfan Tyddyn Road Race around his estate in Harveys Lake.

[6] Brynfan Tyddyn is Welsh for "large farm on a hilltop" and the race consisted of 10 laps around a 3.5 mile course around the estate.

[7] The race was discontinued in 1957 after a fatal accident and officials determined the course was too dangerous and difficult for participants and spectators to reach.