10 Historic Towns to Visit in New York State

New York State offers numerous well-preserved historic towns that showcase early American history. Seneca Falls, located in the Finger Lakes region, was a hub for the women's rights movement and hosted the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. Southold, founded in 1640 by Puritan families, was the first English settlement in New York and features the Horton Point Lighthouse built in 1857. Skaneateles, on Skaneateles Lake, has Revolutionary War history and was known for boat craftsmanship from 1876 to 1945. Cold Spring, founded in 1730, supplied munitions to the Union Army during the Civil War and has over 200 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. New Paltz, settled by French Huguenots in the early 18th century, includes the Mohonk Preserve and the Victorian-era Mohonk Mountain House. Huntington, founded in 1653 on Long Island, features colonial architecture and the Heckscher Museum of Art. Lewiston, near Buffalo, was a stop on the Underground Railroad and has the Frontier House built in 1824. Lake George, in the Adirondacks, was founded in 1810 and includes Fort William Henry Museum. Oyster Bay, purchased by the Dutch in 1639, was home to President Theodore Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill. Cooperstown, founded in 1786, attracts over 300,000 visitors annually to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum and features the Fenimore Art Museum.