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In 1791 Lewis County, along with Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Franklin, and parts of Herkimer and Oswego Counties, was a part of the Macomb’s Purchase. Alexander Macomb, Daniel McCormick, and William Constable were the men who made this purchase of about four million acres of land at about 12 cents an acre, which included most of northern New York, along the St. Lawrence River and eastern Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands.
In 1794, William Topping came to the area of present day Lewis County from Meriden, Connecticut. He came with and ox team, wife, seven year old son, and a girl five years of age. They settled in the town of Leyden, near Talcottville. In the next few years settlers, mainly from Massachusetts and Connecticut, came to this same area.
It was Benjamin Wright, on March 4, 1805, who introduced the bill for Jefferson and Lewis counties to be formed. Lewis County was named in honor of Governor Morgan Lewis.
Governor Morgan Lewis was born October 16, 1754 and died on April 7, 1844. He was an American lawyer, politician, military commander, officer in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and New York legislator. He served as governor in New York from 1804 to 1807. Besides Lewis County being named in his honor, so were the town and village of Lewiston, New York and the town of Lewis in Essex County, New York. Governor Morgan Lewis was President of the Historical Society of New York from 1832 to 1835.
In 1808, the Lowville Academy, a private school, was formed.
The original county seat was in Martinsburg with the courthouse being built in 1811. By an act passed on March 10, 1864, the county seat was relocated to Lowville. In 1852, the construction of the Lowville Courthouse was started. Construction was complete in 1855. It was used as a town hall up to 1864 when the county took residency. In 1902 a County Clerk’s office was built on the north side of the courthouse. But on November 30, 1947, fire damaged the buildings. They had to be rebuilt and were opened again to the public on November 3, 1949.
The early crops of Lewis County were; wheat, hops, dyestuffs, flax, hemp, essential oils, and silk.
In 1840, dairy was leading the way in agricultural products. By 1865, milk production was supplying 32 cheese factories. Today, the milk production from Lewis County supplies Kraft, Inc., the largest cream cheese plant in the world. The largest concentration of milk production in New York State is from Lewis County.
Lewis County is also the state’s largest producer of maple syrup. The maple syrup is known here as “liquid gold.”
Villages of Lewis County are; Castorland, Constableville, Copenhagen, Croghan, Harrisville, Lowville, Lyons Falls, Port Leyden, and Turin.
Towns of Lewis County are; Croghan, Diana, Greig, Harrisburg, Lewis, Leyden, Lowville, Lyonsdale, Martinsburg, Montague, New Bremen, Osceola, Pinckney, Turin, Watson, and West Turin.
The eastern part of Lewis County is in the Adirondack Park, and the Tug Hill Plateau is in the western part of Lewis County. Lewis County is home to the Black River Valley.
