Rewind: May 15, 2026 –

“An Interesting Map from the Time of the American Revolution”

This map shows part of the Colony of New York in the mid-to-late 1700’s.

Note that our part of New York was in CHARLOTTE COUNTY.  in fact, all of Northern New York (above Albany) was only two counties:  CHARLOTTE and TRYON.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY was named after the wife of George III, King of England

A short history lesson may help here.

The area that would become New York was first permanently settled by the Dutch in 1624.  They had established Fort Orange (near Albany), and they established New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island the next year.  The territory was renamed New York in 1664 when the British came and took control of the area.

1609     Henry Hudson explored the region for the Dutch

1614     Fort Nassau was established near Albany as a trading post

1624     The Dutch West India Company began the first permanent settlement

1625     Fort Amsterdam construction began on Manhattan

1664     The English take control and rename the colony and city “New York”

1788     New York became the 11th state to ratify the US Constitution

Looking at the map again, note that the eastern part of the current New York state has more land associated with CHARLOTTE County, moving east.  That is the area that we know today as the state of Vermont – and it includes two additional counties:  CUMBERLAND and GLOUCESTER.

The Vermont Republic became the 14th state in 1791.  There were many issues and land claims between the Vermont Republic and New York, and when the land claims were resolved, it was the 14th state to enter the union.

It is interesting to note that the western part of the state belonged to the Six Nations, the Iroquois Confederacy.