Town Historian
Town Historian
Doris Gearing, Town Historian
Email: historian@canaanny.gov
Phone: 518-929-3756
Canaan, New York, was founded by setters from Canaan, Connecticut in 1759. The town was founded in 1772 as "Kings District". The name was changed to "Canaan" in 1788. One of the oldest sections of Canaan is Frisbee Street, settled in 1770 by Gideon Frisbee, who emigrated from Canaan, Connecticut.
Canaan has a population of 1,570 at the 2020 census, in an area of 36.7 square miles on New York’s border with Massachusetts in northern Columbia County, New York. The town of Canaan includes parts of East Chatham, the rest of which is in the town of Chatham. Similarly, parts of Red Rock are included within Canaan’s southern boundary. Canaan is bordered by Austerlitz to the south, New Lebanon to the north, Massachusetts to the east, and Chatham to the west.
On June 24, 1776, local citizens adopted the King's District Resolution to separate from Great Britain, ten days before the nation Declaration of Independence.