The town was laid out in 1809 on a tract of land that David Parish had purchased from J. D. Le Ray de Chaumont in 1808.

The Luke Brown House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

The West Branch of the St. Regis River flows northward through the town.

New York State Route 72 is an east–west highway in the north part of the town.

New York State Route 56 cuts across the southwestern corner of the town.

[4] The character Rose Lalonde in the webcomic Homestuck lives in a fictional house over Rainbow Falls in Parishville.