Oswego County was taken from Oneida and Onondaga counties in 1816; centrally distant from New York NW. 295, and from Albany 150 miles. Greatest length E. and W. 37 miles, greatest breadth N. and S. 30 milles. The surface is level upon the west, south, and southeast; in the interior rolling, and in the north rising into hills. The soil generally is of a medium quality, some of it highly fertile, better adapted to grass than grain. With the exception of the Oswego river, there are no large streams. "The towns west of the Oswego river constituted a part of the military tract. The towns east of the river constitute a part of "Scriba's patent."   These lands were originally granted to Nicholas Roosevelt, of New York, who not complying with the terms of sale, they were sold to George Scriba, a native of Germany, and at that time a merchant in New York.  The town of Richland, a large part of Volney, about one half of Scriba, and the town of Vienna, in the county of Oneida, upon a sale of part of Mr. Roosevelt's interest by process from chancery,  were jointly purchased by Gen. Alexander Hamilton, John Lawrence, and John B. Church."   The county has 20 towns. Pop.43,820.

ALBION, taken from Richland in 1825;  from A1bany 150, centrally distant from Pulaski SE. 8 miles. Sandbank, Salmon, and Spruce are post-offices. Pop. 1,499.

AMBOY, taken from WilIiamstown in 1830;  from Albany 130, from Pulaski centrally distant SE. 22 miles. Amboy is a small post village. Pop. 1,084.

BOYLSTON, taken from Orwell in 1828;  from Albany 140, from Pulaski NE. 10 miles. Pop. 481. The greater part of the town is still covered with a forest.

CONSTANTIA, taken from Mexico in 1808;  from Albany 145 miles.  Pop. 1,494. Constantia or Rotterdam, on the Oneida lake, 36 miles E. from Oswego, has about 30 dwellings.  Here is one of the most extensive iron foundries in the state.  Cleaveland village has about  25 dwellings. 

GRANBY, taken from Hannibal in 1818; Albany W. 158, centrally distant from Oswego S.12 miles. Pop. 2,386. Phillips village is a small settlement on the Oswego river at the Oswego Falls, which are 800. feet in width, and can be made to furnish great hydraulic power.  Six Mile Creek is a post-office.

HANNIBAL, originally taken from Lysander as part of Onondaga county in 1806;  from Albany 168 miles. Pop. 2,275. Hannibalville, 11 miles S. of Oswego, and Kinney's Corners, 6 miles from Oswego, are small villages.

HASTINGS, taken from Constantia in 1825;  from Albany 150, centrally distant from Pulaski S.17 miles. Pop. 1,989. Opposite to Brewerton village, at the head of Oneida river, are the remains of Fort Brewerton. Central Square and Hastings are post-offices.

MEXICO, originally taken from Whitestown, and organized as part of  Herkimer county in 1792;  from Albany 154 miles. Pop. 3,799.  Mexico village, 10 miles S. from Pulaski, 16 from Oswego, has about 70 or 80 dwellings, and an academy -- 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist church.  Prattsville 9 miles, Colosse 10, and Union Square 8 from Pulaski, are small settlements.

NEW HAVEN, taken from Mexico in 1813;  from Albany 157 miles. Pop. 1,735. New Haven, 10 miles E. from Oswego, and 12 SW. from Pulaski, has about 20 dwellings. Butterfly is a post-office.

ORWELL, taken from Richland in 1817;  from Albany 139, and from Pulaski centrally distant E. 9 miles. Pop. 809.  The falls of the Salmon river here are 107 feet perpendicular, and with a width during freshets of 250 feet. Above them the rocky banks rise 80 feet-below, 200 above the water.

OSWEGO was taken from Hannibal in 1818. It has a level surface and a soil of sandy loam.  Pop. 4,673. Oswego village, post and half-shire town, port of entry and delivery for Oswego district, is 45 miles W. from Sacketts harbor, 60 from Kingston, Upper Canada, 60 from the mouth of Genesee river, 140 from the mouth of Niagara river, and 150 from Toronto in a straight line, and 38 from Syracuse on the Erie canal. The village lies on both sides of the Oswego river, with which it is connected by a bridge 700 feet in length.  The portion on the eastern side is within the limits of the town of Scriba. The facilities which its situation gives for commerce and manufactures are great, commanding the markets of the lakes and the St. Lawrence river, and connected with the interior of the state by the Oswego and Erie canals. The water-power afforded by the canal* and river is very extensive, and upon them are many large manufacturing establishments.  The harbor is formed at the mouth of the river by a pier of wood, 30 feet broad, filled with stone, and built by the general government, extending on the west side 1,250 feet, and on the east 250, between which there is an opening for vessels. Within the pier the water is from 10 to 20 feet deep.  The cost of this work was $93,000.  There is here an excellent marine railway constructed at considerable expense.  The village is laid out on streets 100 feet wide, running at right angles.  The courthouse is of wood, on the east side of the river.  There is also 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Congregationalist, and 1 Catholic church, an incorporated academy, the Bank of Oswego, capital $150,000, the Commercial Bank of Oswego, incorporated in 1836, capital $150,000, and about 600 dwellings.

* "About three quarters of a mile from the mouth of the river was a rapid, on which the State has erected a feeder dam seven and half feet high for supplying the canal with water. On the east side of the Stream, the Oswego Canal Company, pursuant to agreement with the commonwealth, have a right to the full use of the waters of the river from the canal, and have, by a subsidiary canal, conducted them to the village, where they have a fall of nineteen feet.  Mr. Abraham Varick has constructed on the west side, under the direction of Mr. John McNair, civil engineer, (1835,) on the margin of the river, a wall eighteen feet high, forming a canal along the bank seven feet deep, sixty-two feet wide, at an estimated cost of $75,000, giving also a fall of nineteen feet at the village."  --Gordon’s Gaz.

PALERMO, taken from Volney in 1832;  from Oswego centrally distant SE. 14 miles.  Pop.1,928. Palermo is a small post village.

PARISH, taken from Mexico in 1828; NW. from Albany 149, from Pulaski centrally distant S.12 miles. Pop. 1,543.

REDFIELD, taken from Mexico in 1800; from Pulaski centrally distant E. 15 miles. Redfield village is in the southern part. Pop. 507.

RICHLAND, taken from Williamstown in 1807;  NW. from Albany 153 miles.  Pop. 4,046. Pulaski village, half-shire town, was incorporatcd in 1833. Centrally situated on Salmon river, 4 miles from its confluence with Lake Ontario, 36 N. of Salina, and 60 from Utica. The river at this place affords considerable water-power, on which are a number of grist and saw mills, and several manufacturing establishments. There are about 80 dwellings, a number of churches, a courthouse and prison. The spires or cupolas of the courthouse, the Presbyterian and Baptist churhes, and the academy, are seen on the left of the annexed engraving.

SANDY CREEK, taken from Richland in 1825; from Albany 159 miles. Washingtonville, 6 miles N of Pulaski, is a small village.  Pop. 2,431. 

SCHROEPPEL, taken from Volney in 1832;  from Oswego centrally distant SE. 21 miles. Phoenix, about 18 miles from Oswego, is a thriving village, recently built, having 2 churches and about 50 dwellings, on the Oswego river and canal. Rosevelt is a post-office. Pop. 2,198 *

SCRIBA, taken from Fredricksburg, the original name of Volney, in 1811;  from Albany 167 miles. Pop. 4,051. That part of Oswego village which lies on the right or NE. bank of the Oswego river, is in this town, and is called East Oswego.

VOLNEY, taken from Mexico in 1806, by the name of Fredricksburg;  from Albany 160 miles. Pop. 3,154. Fulton, incorporated in 1835, is a flourishing place at the Oswego Falls, 10 miles from Oswego.  It has 4 churches, an academy, about 200 dwellings and 1,400 inhabitants. The centre of the village is half a miile below, or north of the Oswego Falls, on the east bank of  the Oswego river, at a point where a dam is constructed for the use of the Oswego canal.  The village limits extend, above the falls, and include the state reservation, which has been laid out as a village and partly sold, called "Oswego Falls."  The water-power is extensive and used on both sides of the river at the dam, and also at the natural falls. The fall is about 12 feet at each place.

WILLIAMSTOWN, taken from Mexico in 1804; from Albany 137, centrally distant from Oswego E. 31 miles.  Williamstown is a small post village.  Pop. 830.  The greater part of the town is unsettled.

Source: Historical Collections of the State of New York, by John W. Barber and Henry Howe, New York;  Published for the Authors by S. Tuttle, 194 Chatham-Square.  Price Three Dollars.  1841.