Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the home of Sir William Johnson (1715–1774) an Irish pioneer who became the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York, known for his strong relationship especially with the Mohawk and other Iroquois League nations.

The house was built seven miles from the Mohawk River, close to Hall Creek.

[3] Hall Creek provided water sufficient to power a sawmill and later a grist mill.

Johnson engaged leading colonial architect Peter Harrison (1716-1775) to design the house; he hired the carpenter, Samuel Fuller, to build it.

Johnson also had two stone block houses built as defenses against attack on the frontier, as the British had just ended the Seven Years' War with the French.