This area was historically occupied by the Mohican tribe, and later by a mixed group of Mohicans, and remnants of numerous New England tribes who had migrated west seeking to escape European encroachment.
In 1675, Governor Andros, governor of the colony of New York, planted a tree of Welfare near the junction of the Hoosic River and Tomhannock Creek, an area already known as Schaghticoke, "the place where the waters mingle."