Frankfort

The Town of Frankfort is located in the southern section of Herkimer County. The land on which the present village stands was once the land of the Mohawk Indian Tribe. The land was bought by the Dutch who established patents encompassing a large area in the Town of Frankfort. The First permanent settler was Jacob Folts, who had come to America in 1710 and settled here after purchasing lot#3 of the Burnetsfield Patent in 1723. In 1796 Major Warner Folts built the Folts Homestead on the land.

Another early settler was Lawrence Frank, for whom our town was named. Early pioneers were German immigrants, who were called Palantines because they came from the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine River. They settled in the Mohawk Valley prior to the Revolutionary War, building mills on the river and creeks. By 1757 there were saw and grist mills in the area but were burned during the French and Indian War raids. Unfortunately the area had very little time to rebuild before being totally destroyed during the Revolutionary War.