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History · Palatine Bridge

Palatine Bridge dates to 1723, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1870.

1723founded
4on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Palatine Bridge’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Palatine Bridge began

When was Palatine Bridge founded?

1723

Palatine Bridge dates its founding to 1723 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 493 in 18702020 census: 796303 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1814.The full story ↓

What stands out about Palatine Bridge’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1870 and 1880, then more than doubled.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1944. Watch Palatine Bridge change.Older than the countryEstablished in 1723, 53 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palatine Bridge’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCanajoharie & Palatine Bridge, N.Y., 18…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Palatine Bridge, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020493 in 1870Low: 332

Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1880, then more than doubled.

15 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Palatine Bridge’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Palatine Bridge on the map, 1898 to 1944

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Palatine Bridge. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Palatine Bridge on the 1898 USGS mapPalatine Bridge on the 1900 USGS mapPalatine Bridge on the 1944 USGS map1898Canajoharie 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 Palatine Bridge.

The story

How Palatine Bridge came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palatine Bridge.

Read it all →

Palatine Bridge was settled in 1723. A bridge across the Mohawk River here built in 1802 gave the community its name. The village was incorporated in 1867.

The 1802 bridge was a single uncovered wooden arch 330 feet long, and collapsed in 1807. A new one built from the same lumber was built in 1808, this time a covered bridge resting on 3 stone piers. This bridge was swept away by a flood in 1822 and was replaced the same year, but was lost to another flood and replaced in 1833.

The Frey House and Palatine Bridge Freight House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2019 most of the developed portion of the village was listed on the Register as the Palatine Bridge Historic District.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Palatine Bridge in 1892

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

He was there but one year when he moved to Palatine. There he bought a small lot and built a house, working out by the day. He afterwards took a farm of new land, which he broke up and tilled. In 1869 he moved to Palatine Bridge, where he kept a saloon, and for six months worked for the American Ex…
History of Montgomery County1892 · page 88Read the page →
Read the text

He was there but one year when he moved to Palatine. There he bought a small lot and built a house, working out by the day. He afterwards took a farm of new land, which he broke up and tilled. In 1869 he moved to Palatine Bridge, where he kept a saloon, and for six months worked for the American Express company. In 1870 he sold his saloon and went into the foundry business, which he leased of Colonel Johnson.

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.

Timeline

Palatine Bridge, 1723 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1723
    FoundingPalatine Bridge is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1814Born hereEli Cook is born here
  5. 1817Born hereWebster Wagner is born here
  6. 1824Born hereGeorge Alonzo Johnson is born here
  7. 1881In the archiveCanajoharie & Palatine Bridge, N.Y., 1881
  8. 1881Born hereAnthony Dimond is born here
  9. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 21st century
  11. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 796
By decade

Palatine Bridge, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Canajoharie & Palatine Bridge, N.Y., 18811881Canajoharie & Palatine Bridge, N.Y., 1881
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown3 to date
Fort WagnerDate?Fort WagnerLime Kiln, Fort Frey VicinityDate?Lime Kiln, Fort Frey VicinityEhle House, Old Kings Highway VicinityDate?Ehle House, Old Kings Highway Vicinity
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Canajoharie & Palatine Bridge, N.Y., 1881
Retake this viewCanajoharie & Palatine Bridge, N.Y., 1881, 1881

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Palatine Bridge’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 listings protect 213 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
213
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

5 famous people were born in Palatine Bridge

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

See all →
Anthony DimondAmerican politician · b. 1881
Webster WagnerAmerican inventor, manufacturer and politician … · b. 1817
E
Eli CookMayor of the city of Buffalo, New York · b. 1814
G
George Alonzo JohnsonAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1824
Martin SchenckNew York politician and engineer · b. 1848
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Palatine17 historic placesA+Canajoharie6 historic placesA+Canajoharie4 historic placesA+

Questions about Palatine Bridge’s history

What year was Palatine Bridge founded?

In 1723, according to Wikidata. Palatine Bridge’s post office opened in 1814, and the census of 1870 counted 493 people here.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.