The village is named after Dr. Jonas Baldwin,[3] who built a dam across the Seneca River to generate energy and a private canal to keep the integrity of the water highway. It incorporated in 1848 as the Village of Baldwinsville. Prior to this, the community was known by a number of other names, including McHarrie's Rifts.

The Town of Cambridge, formerly in Albany County, New York, was transferred to Washington County in 1791, shortly after the United States gained independence in the American Revolutionary War.

Amenia is one of the original towns formed by act of March 7, 1788. It comprises the width of the Oblong Tract, and the east tier of lots in the Great Nine Partners Patent.

Elmira was the home of Jervis Langdon, Twain's father-in-law and where Sam Clemens married Olivia Langdon.  Susan Crane, Livy's sister lived at Quarry Farm, just outside of Elmira, where the Clemens family spent most of their summers.  Sam moved his family to Elmira in 1895 after their long residence in Europe.  His last visit to the city was kn April of 1903.

Elmira ollege is the home of the Center for Mark Twain Studies and now owns the Quarry Farm home.  All members of the Clemens and Langdon family are buried at Elmira's Woodlawn Cemetery.

The area that would become Canton was inhabited for tens of thousands of years prior to European colonization.