Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fonda. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1896Fonda sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fonda.
Every building
Fonda, building by building, 1884–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The village of Fonda developed near the site of the former Mohawk village of Caughnawaga, also known as Kahnawà:ke. Here the Mohawk had cultivated corn in the floodplain on the north side of the Mohawk River.
In the late 17th century, Kateri Tekakwitha resettled here. She was a Mohawk girl who had converted to Catholicism and become renowned for her piety. She lived here with relatives after her parents died in a smallpox epidemic. She had survived but was marked by scars. She was later canonized as the first Native American saint. A national Catholic shrine devoted to her was established here and is a pilgrimage destination.
Jacob, Garret, Ann, Sarah, Rebecca and Eachael. After his second marriage William Schenck began life on a farm at Sammonsville, and from that place moved on a large tract of land of several hundred acres purchased from John Dewandler who had bought the property from Major Jellis Fonda of well known revolutionary fame, who had here a store and a mill, as well as a grand brick house which was burned in John Johnson's raid. After William Schenck obtained possession of the property, he carried on an extensive milling business, consisting of a grist mill, -saw mill, fulling mill, plaster mill and cider mill, also a blacksmith shop and cooper shop. He was well sustained in his
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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