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History · Brewerton

Brewerton’s post office opened in 1828, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: old-book passages.

1828first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Brewerton began

When was Brewerton founded?

1828

The Brewerton post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 3,907198 years
Founding year: the first Brewerton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Brewerton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Brewerton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of Brewerton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brewerton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brewerton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Brewerton, 1865 to 1985

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Born hereJames A. Johnson is born here
  3. 1879Born hereEastwood Lane is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1985Born hereMark Walczyk is born here
The story

How Brewerton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brewerton.

Read it all →

The community is sited near the former Fort Brewerton, erected in 1759 to defend the passage from Albany to the port of Oswego. Settlers arrived in 1789 to engage in the fur trade. The Fort Brewerton Block House Museum contains local relics dating back to Paleo-Indian times. It is located next to the original fort.

In the late 18th century two Presbyterians, Rev. John Shepard and Deacon George Ramsey started preaching in the area near the Fort Brewerton embankment. Deacon Ramsey built a schoolhouse nearby which was used for both instruction and worship.

In 1948 the Brewerton Speedway was built by Alvin Richardson of Buffalo as a 1/4 mile dirt track. Brewerton was working on another track however production has stopped due to state funding.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Brewerton in 1878

Passages that mention Brewerton, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The first school was kept at Brewerton in 1792. It was taught by Deacon George Ramsey, a Scotch Presbyterian. He died at Brewerton many years ago.
... History of Onondaga County, New York1878 · page 340Read the page →
Read the text

The first school was kept at Brewerton in 1792. It was taught by Deacon George Ramsey, a Scotch Presbyterian. He died at Brewerton many years ago.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first white settler in the town of Cicero was a Mr. Dexter, a blacksmith, who settled opposite Fort Brewerton in 1790. Mr. Oliver Stevens, .father of the late Judge John L. Stevens, settled at the fort in 1789. He cultivated a garden on the south side of the river, to which he removed in a few …
... History of Onondaga County, New York1878 · page 338Read the page →
Read the text

The first white settler in the town of Cicero was a Mr. Dexter, a blacksmith, who settled opposite Fort Brewerton in 1790. Mr. Oliver Stevens, .father of the late Judge John L. Stevens, settled at the fort in 1789. He cultivated a garden on the south side of the river, to which he removed in a few years, and died there in 1813. Mr. Stevens was an Indian trader, and was induced to come

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Brewerton, decade by decade

Today6 recent
SenecaChief2025BicentennialVoyageBrewertonC2025SenecaChief2025BicentennialVoyageBrewertonCSenecaChief2025BicentennialVoyageBrewertonB2025SenecaChief2025BicentennialVoyageBrewertonBSenecaChief2025BicentennialVoyageBrewertonA2025SenecaChief2025BicentennialVoyageBrewertonAI81Brewerton2006I81BrewertonHousing development in2006Housing development inBrewertonhousing32006Brewertonhousing3
On the National Register

1 historic place in Brewerton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Brewerton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
E
Eastwood LaneAmerican composer · b. 1879
J
James A. JohnsonAmerican architect · b. 1865
Mark WalczykAmerican politician · b. 1985
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

ClayIts storyDCicero1 historic placeB−Hastings2 historic placesBWest MonroeIts storyB−

Questions about Brewerton’s history

What year was Brewerton founded?

The Brewerton post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.