Montezuma Township Timeline
5500 BC Earliest traces of Native Americans in Seneca River Valley
1677 Jesuit Mission settlement. Called St. Rene's Mission. Maps indicate Montezuma Hamlet area, but name of mission is also referenced to be in Savannah area. Not certain if these are one and the same or different missions.
1779 Gen Sullivan's Expedition:, Gen. William Butler is sent to destroy all Indian towns east of Cayuga Lake September 9, 1779
1782 Military Tract divisions include Towns of Aurelius and Brutus
1789 Cayuga Reservation formed on East Side of Cayuga Lake
1795 New York Treaty with Cayugas to give up land, Cayuga Reservation is surveyed into lots of 250 acres
1796 Sale of Indian lands begins
1798 First settlement at Montezuma made by Peter Clarke, Comfort Tyler, and Abraham Morgan
1799 Cayuga County formed from portion of Onondaga County March 3, 1799
1802 Town of Mentz formed from portions of Towns of Aurelius and Brutus March 2, 1802
1807 Cayugas cede all remaining land to New York State
1811 Bridges built over Clyde and Seneca Rivers and turnpike built over the marshes.
1820 Middle section of Erie Canal is first opened between Montezuma and Utica.
1823 Baptist Church formed in Montezuma as "Church of Aurelius and Mentz"
1825 Old Mentz Church built, Erie Canal completed Oct. 26, 1825
1828 Cayuga-Seneca Canal is opened in Montezuma extending canal to the Finger Lakes
1849 Richmond Aqueduct construction begins
1857 Completion and opening of Richmond Aqueduct
1859 Montezuma Township created from portion of Mentz Township April 8, 1859
1865 St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church built
1866 Montezuma Village incorporated with population of 550
1917 Barge Canal replaces Erie and Richmond Aqueduct partially demolished