Timeline of town creation in Downstate New York

The towns and cities of Downstate New York were created by the U.S. state of New York as municipalities in order to give residents more direct say over local government.

In 1683 the colony of New York eliminated shires and ridings in favor of counties,[2] the East Riding becoming Suffolk County, West Riding the counties of Richmond and Kings, while the North Riding became the counties of Westchester (including present-day Bronx), New York, and Queens (including present-day Nassau).

[1] Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts,[4] precincts,[5] and boroughs.

[6] Though originally intended to be mere “…involuntary subdivisions of the state, constituted for the purpose of the more convenient exercise of governmental functions by the state for the benefit of all its citizens” as defined by the courts in 1916 (Short v. Town of Orange), towns gained home rule powers from the state in 1964, at which time towns became "a municipal corporation comprising the inhabitants within its boundaries, and formed with the purpose of exercising such powers and discharging such duties of local government and administration of public affairs as have been, or, maybe [sic] conferred or imposed upon it by law.”[7] The following time-line shows the creation of the current towns from their predecessors stretching back to the earliest municipal entity over the area.

All municipalities are towns unless otherwise noted as patent, township, borough, district, or city.