When the old Tryon County was formed from Albany County in 1772, the county seat was Johnstown. In 1836, Fonda became the county seat as result of one, its geographical location in the center of the county, two, due to the growth in population and construction of the Utica and Schenectady railroad, and three, the old road to Johnstown was, of course, not paved, and at times was difficult to travel on. Fonda's Old Court House, built in 1836 and one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the state was built on the site of the home of the last Colonial Sheriff of Tryon County, who was Tory and fled to Canada. Our pioneer settlers were governed by the laws of God, thus the erection of the Old Caughnawaga Dutch Reformed Church in 1763. The church was torn down in 1861 but in 1843 another had been erected at Center and Railroad streets and moved to the present lo- cation in 1868. The Rev. Barent Vrooman was the supply minister 1758-1794. Prior to 1850 Catholic services were conducted in pri- in vate homes, and in 1850 St. Patrick's of Johnstown was established as a mission and later a parish and catholics in the Fonda area at- tended this parish until the first Catholic church was built on Main Street in 1875. In 1923 the present church site was purchased and in 1926 a new church was officially opened for services, Easter Sunday, 4 April, and is currently in use. The Methodist Church has it's history in the visitations of circuit riders, who preached in small groups. The chruch was organized in 1842 and a church was built. In 1843 due to the many new members a second edifice was built which was destroyed by fire in 1912. In 1913 another building was erected, which remain standing,. The congregation united with the Fultonville church and the building is now occupied by the Fonda is Bible Church.

The Rev. F. D. McGuire was the first resident priest of the Catholic Church, and Rev. R. W. Pierson was the first minister of the Meth- odist Church and the Rev. James Hutchings Handy Brown was the first pastor of the Zion Episcopal Church. Services were not held after 1933, but the Zion church still remains standing. The Village of Fonda was incorporated in 1850 upon the petition to the Court of Sessions, and the order confirmed at an election held October 4. Only three were against the incorporation and seventy- eight for it. The village included 312 acres. In 1868 the main streets were paved and in 1865 a bridge was built across the Mo- hawk. The first bridge constructed in 1811 was carried away by the spring freshet, as was the second bridge built in 1825. These bridges were toll bridges.

The earliest efforts in manufacturing were made in 1811, when Grist Mills were built along the Cayadutta Creek. Fulling Mills were also started by John and Simon Veeder, Henry Fonda, G. Van Dusen and Myndert Wemple. In the 1890's, a knitting mill was started by John and Robert Own and was operated until it was de- stroyed by fire. Later on a similar mill was operated but proved unsuccessful. A third attempt was made by James Shanahan and that was a success. Flour and feed mills, paper mills and a success- ful cheese factory comprised nearly all of the manufacturing. In the early 1900's the Cayadutta Knitting Co. was taken over by Con- gressman Lucius Littauer of Gloversville. It then became the Fonda Glove Lining Co. and then the Fonda Manufacturing Corp. which was destroyed by fire in the 1970's. The remains still stand. The only industry in the village now is Kasson and Keller, manufacturer of aluminum products, located on School Street. The building was originally the old Fonda High School. The first school in Fonda was located in Caughnawaga, in the early 1800's. In 1938 a new

erected. In 1958 the Fonda-Fultonville Central School was built and a middle school was added in 1971. The 1938 Fonda High School was purchased by Montgomery County and still houses sev- eral county offices.

In 1892 the New Court House was built, due to the noise of the rail- road right near the 1836 Old Court House. In 1965 the New County Office Building was built.

When the county seat was moved from Johnstown to Fonda in 1836, the Johnstown Herald newspaper was brought down also. The name was later changed to The Fonda Sentinel in 1843 under new ownership. In 1855 William S. Hawley established the Ameri- can Star in Canajoharie and five weeks later it was removed to Fonda where it was printed on the second floor of the Reformed Church Parsonage. The paper was acquired by Charles B. Freeman and the name was changed to the Mohawk Valley American. This paper was later consolidated with the Fonda Sentinel and was re- named The Mohawk Valley Democrat. William B. Wemple, Sr. purchased the "Democrat", as it was commonly called, May 1, 1912 and on his death in 1924 the paper was under the management of his son William Barent Wemple, Jr.. In 1956 the paper was pur- chased by Chester Gizarra who later sold it to Lee Publications, April 19, 1988. It became defunct a few years later.

The Old Fonda Jail and Sheriff's Department were replaced in 1997 by the Ronald E. Emery Public Safety Facility, now located on Route 5-S in Glen.

The Frothingham Free Library came into existence through the gen- erosity of a bequest left by Rev. Washington Frothingham, and re- mains as an excellent educational repository, with programs for all ages.

Rev. Frothingham wrote several books as an author but he was also a journalist, philanthropist, and a very active minister. In the Fonda Section of his book History of Montgomery County, published in 1892, he made the following statement "Fonda, indeed, has a very promising prospect in the future",

Many public events have taken place over the years but most con- sistent of these is the "Fonda Fair". The first fair was held on the Old Court House grounds in 1844 and is still an annual fall event. Another public event is the "Fonda Speedway", started in 1953 and is still drawing thousands of fans weekly from all over the country.