Welcome to Minden, NY
The Town of Minden encompasses nearly 33,000 acres, and is located on the southwestern border of Montgomery County in the state of New York. The Town of Minden has six hamlets which are Hallsville, Mindenville, Freybush, Fordsbush, Salt Springville, and Brookmans Corners. The Town of Minden has always been an agricultural based community. Dairy farming has been the main part of this agricultural base and continues to be so today.
Town of Minden, NY
The First Inhabitants
The Mohawk Indians were the first inhabitants of the area that is now called the Town of Minden. The Mohawk Indians belonged to what the British called the “Five Nations”, or the French called the “Iroquois Nation”. The other tribes of this nation were the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas; the most eastern tribe was that of the Mohawks. The Mohawks controlled the area from Albany westward to the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, and as far north as the St. Lawrence river. The Mohawks and their fellow tribesman would come to play a legitimate role throughout the Mohawk Valley during America’s war for independence.
The First Settlers
The first known white settler to settle in the Minden area was that of Jacob Crouse around the year 1720. The earliest white settlers were Palatine Germans farmers who migrated from Schoharie and settled in the area called Dutchtown. These earliest settlers had very few skills and most of their necessities were most likely bought from Schenectady. They were an illiterate people and had no schools, few books, and no newspapers.
This part of the valley that became the Town of Minden was very sparsely inhabited prior to the American Revolution. The first store, which was also used as a trading post, was opened by William Seeber in 1750 near the Sand Hill area. Around this time in the Sand Hill area the first church was erected and called the Reformed Dutch Church of Canajoharie. This church was later burned down in 1780 during the revolution.
In 1772 Tryon County was formed from the western most part of Albany County. This new county was divided into five districts, and Minden fell into what was then called the “Canajoharie District”.
The Town of Minden has six hamlets which are Hallsville, Mindenville, Freybush, Fordsbush, Salt Springville, and Brookmans Corners. Hallsville was named after a pack peddler called Robert Hall, who at one time operated four stores, a brewery and a distillery. The Hamlet of Freybush is one of the oldest settlements of the area. The other four hamlets are scattered about the town and are still very rural in character.The Town of Minden has always been an agricultural based community. Dairy farming has been the main part of this agricultural base and continues to be so today. The Town of Minden, like most farming communities in the northeast, has seen a decrease in farming practices and an increase in the amount of vacant agricultural land. Overall, the Town of Minden remains a rural agricultural community.