The hamlet was originally called "Anderson Falls" by settlers from New England, who moved into the area following the American Revolutionary War and forcing of Iroquois tribes off their lands. The name was changed circa 1812 to "Keeseville", after a local manufacturer and businessman. The early hamlet was an industrial area devoted, in part, to lumber, iron processing and milling. One such industry was the Ausable Chasm Horse Nail Works, which produced two tons of nails a day from 1863 to 1925. There has also been a strong French Canadian influence, and many ethnic French have historic ties to the area. The Catholic cathedral, St. John's, was designed in a French style. As population moved west across New York and later to more urbanized areas, the village declined in population.
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 (6), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1865
1869
2007