Frankfort Grew as a Canal-Side Mohawk Village

Frankfort’s story is canal and river, with older land history underneath. Village records say it sits along the Mohawk River and historic Erie Canal. The village was incorporated in 1863 and grew steadily as a canal-side community during Erie Canal expansion. The town page reaches farther back. It says the present village area was once Mohawk land, later part of Dutch patents, and that Jacob Folts settled after purchasing a lot in the Burnetsfield Patent in 1723.

That layered story gives Frankfort more than a village-near-Utica identity. It is a Herkimer County place shaped by river land, patents, and canal traffic. The Erie Canal, Mohawk River, and Burnetsfield Patent all give the village a deeper map than a quick drive suggests.

Frankfort still feels like a canal-side Mohawk Valley place when you read it that way. The river came early, the patents carry older land history, and the canal shows why a village grew here with such a practical east-west pull.

That is a lot for a small place to carry, but the pieces fit. Mohawk River, Erie Canal, Burnetsfield Patent, and Herkimer County all point to movement and settlement layered over time.