The towns and cities of Downstate New York were created by the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
New York as
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in order to give residents more direct say over local government.
[ Present-day Westchester, ]Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York, Richmond, Kings, Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, Nassau, and Suffolk counties were part of York Shire from 1664-August 1673 and again from February 1674 until 1683 at which point the Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
was divided into counties. From August 1673 to February 1674 New York was under Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
control and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
political units were suspended, then restored under English rule. York Shire was divided into three divisions called ridings, the East, West, and North ridings. In 1683 the colony of New York eliminated shires and ridings in favor of counties,[ 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).][
New York experimented with different types of municipalities before settling upon the current format of ]towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
and cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
occupying all the land in a county, and all previous forms were transformed into towns (or divided into multiple towns) in 1788 when all of the state of New York was divided into towns.[ Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts,] precincts, and boroughs. 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
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
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 '' ">ic' conferred or imposed upon it by law.”
The following time-line shows the creation of the current towns from their predecessors stretching back to the earliest municipal entity over the area. It represents from which old town (s) a particular new town was created, but does not represent annexations of territory to and from towns that already existed. All municipalities are towns unless otherwise noted as patent, township, borough, district, or city.
Westchester and Bronx counties
Notes
New York County
Notes
Richmond County
Notes
Kings County
Notes
*All towns and cities in Kings County were annexed to the City of Brooklyn starting in 1854 with Bushwick and Williamsburgh and ending with the last remaining town- Flatlands in 1896. At that point the city of Brooklyn and Kings County were coterminous.[ In 1898 the city and county would be annexed to the city of New York as the ]borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
of Brooklyn and remain Kings County.[
]
Queens and Nassau counties
Notes
* Oyster Bay was English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
territory from 1650, whereas the other towns received patents from the Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
.[
]
Suffolk County
Notes
*Brookhaven- from 1661[-1664 Connecticut Colony.]
*East Hampton- from 1657[-1664 Connecticut Colony.][
*Huntington- from 1660-1664 Connecticut Colony.][
*Southampton- from 1644-1664 Connecticut Colony; 1664-1673 ]Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
; 1673-1674 Connecticut Colony.[
*Southold- from 1640-1662 under the ]New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history of ...
; 1662-1664 Connecticut Colony.[
]
See also
*Administrative divisions of New York
The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only boro ...
*Timeline of town creation in New York's Capital District
The towns and cities of New York's Capital District were created by the U.S. state of New York as municipalities in order to give residents more direct say over local government. The Capital District is an 11 county area, which consists of the co ...
*Timeline of town creation in the Hudson Valley
The towns and cities of the Hudson Valley were created by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York as municipalities, in order to perform the services of local government. In 1683, prior to the creation of modern towns, the Province of New York ...
*Timeline of town creation in Central New York
The towns and cities of Central New York were created by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York as municipalities in order to give residents more direct say over local government. Central New York (consisting of the Syracuse metropolitan ar ...
*List of former municipalities in New York City
The City of Greater New York was formed in 1898 through the consolidation of a number of municipalities, some of which were themselves previously consolidated from smaller municipalities. This article lists the villages, towns and cities that ...
*List of municipalities on Long Island
This is a list of cities, towns, villages, and hamlets on Long Island.
Introduction
In New York State, each county is divided into cities and towns. Every point in New York is inside either a city or a town. Additionally, towns may opti ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of Town Creation In Downstate New York
Former municipalities in New York (state)
Former municipalities
A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature.
A former may become an integral part of th ...
Long Island
Westchester County, New York
History of New York (state)
Former towns in New York City
Former villages in New York City