Dansville The town was formed, along with the county, in 1796 as one of the original towns in the county, but was not settled until around 1804. The town was used to form, in whole or part, the Towns of Cohocton, Howard (both in 1812), Wayland (1848), and Fremont (1854). In 1822, part of the town, including the Village of Dansville was annexed to the Town of Sparta in Livingston County.
A spa, in the “Castle on the Hill”, opened in 1854. It drew prominent people for the water cure. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad opened its mainline high above Dansville, on September 17, 1882. Famed "Dansville Hill" was an impediment to heavy eastbound trains for 81 years, until the mainline was abandoned by the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad between Groveland and Wayland in late 1963. To the dismay of local business men, the Dansville station was more than a mile up the steep hill (Depot Road).