[3] The area where Ilion is located was first settled by Palatine Germans under the Burnetsfield Patent around 1725.

After the American Revolution, a small community was set up in the area named "New London".

The community began to flourish starting around 1816 when Eliphalet Remington created his first rifle.

[8] In December 2023 RemArms LLC announced that the Remington Arms factory located in the village will be permanently closed in March 2024, eliminating 300 jobs.

The 1 million square-foot factory previously owned by Remington Arms is a dominant structure in village.

Barringer Road Elementary, which remained open, nicknames its students the Bobcats.

Remington Elementary was rented (and later sold) to Herkimer County BOCES and now houses its Pathways Academy, which provides education for students who struggle in a traditional school environment.

Prior to their merger with Mohawk, Ilion Central School District was among the poorest in the state of New York.

Although the buildings remained in good repair, the district was not able to afford any foreign language education (other than Spanish), and offered only four of 34 possible AP courses.

In early 2013, voters approved the merger of the Mohawk and Ilion school districts.

[citation needed] New York State Route 5S, an east–west highway, passes through the northern side of the village.