The path of NY 257 has been state-maintained since 1918; however, the NY 257 designation only dates back to the 1940s, when it was assigned to the portion of its modern alignment north of Fayetteville.

From this point northward, NY 257 parallels an old alignment of the Erie Canal (as well as the surrounding Old Erie Canal State Park) to Manlius Center, where it ends at NY 290.

[4] All of what is now NY 257 was originally added to the state highway system on August 14, 1918, as part of State Highway 1073 (SH 1073), an unsigned legislative designation still used today for inventory purposes.

[5] In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, the section of SH 1073 south of Fayetteville became part of NY 92.

[6][7] The portion of the route north of Fayetteville remained unnumbered until the 1940s when it was designated as NY 257.