The township of Hopkinton is the
fifth town of the first ten towns in St. Lawrence Co.
The first settlers came in 1802. The Township is located
in the Southeast corner of St. Law. Co., in the
foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. It has an
elevation of 1,273 feet. On the East side it borders
Franklin County and on the south side it borders
Piercefield. This last section of the township use to be
referred to as the “south woods:.
Hopkinton is the second largest
township in size in St. Law. Co., with 119, 680 acres of
land or 187 square miles. According to the 2010 Census
the population is 1, 077 residence which is an increase
of 57 people since the 2000 Census
The Township consists of the
villages of Hopkinton, Ft. Jackson and the east part of
Nicholville. It has one central Town Board and
Supervisor that governs the Township.
Until 1989, each village has its
own Post Office. Now all three villages are under the
12965 zip code and the only Post Office is in
Nicholville.
The Township has three school
districts. Parishville-Hopkinton Central School, St.
Lawrence Central School and St. Regis Central School. At
one time there were 17 little schools in the township.
Only three of these schools stand today. The recently
restored “French Hill School” on the Wilson Road (built
in 1932) (District #9), the Hopkinton Village school
which was built in 1969 (District #2), is now the home
to the Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson Fire Dept. and the third
was Smith School on the Parishville Road (District #6)
and is a private home today.
The Township has three
cemeteries. The Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson Cemetery between
the villages of Hopkinton and Ft. Jackson on County Road
49, the Holy Cross Cemetery on the Lake Ozonia Road and
the Catherinesville Cemetery which is on the
Catherinesville Road off the Santamont Road. All three
cemeteries have been documented (and all new burials are
added to these documentations). They may be found
on-line at www.stlawrencecountycemeteries.org.
The early years of Hopkinton are
documented in the book “Hopkinton, the first hundred
Years” by Carlton Sanford published in 1903. It tells of
the early years of Hopkinton. The prominent people and a
large section on genealogy of the early settlers and
their families. Reprints are available to borrow or are
for purchase through the Hopkinton Historian’s office.
“Hopkinton, the Second Hundred Years” by Dale J. Burnett
covers every piece of property in Hopkinton as well as
present genealogy. This book maybe purchased through
Dale Burnett or Amazon.
The Hopkinton Village Green is
the center of Hopkinton and won the RVSP award through
TAUNY. It is circled by Church Street and consists the
Town Hall which was built in 1870, The Congregational
Church which was built in 1892, the Town Offices and a
library and museum which are in a house that was built
in 1817 (which is the library) and a second section to
the house which was added in 1834 and is the Historical
Group Museum.
Most of the homes in the
villages of Hopkinton and Ft. Jackson were built in the
1800’s. Many have sandstone foundations. Both yellow and
red sandstone were mined in one of the four Hopkinton’s
sandstone quarries. In 2010 the quarry with red
sandstone has begun limited mining again.
Hopkinton has approximately 49
businesses. The three largest ones are, Norco Farms
which incorporates acreage which was originally 32
farms, The Heifer Farm on Route 11B and NuMed in the
village of Hopkinton, which employees about 80 people
and they ship their products world wide.
Hopkinton is well known for its
friendly citizens and community minded activities.
Booklets of a self-guided car tour of the Historical
parts of Hopkinton are available upon request from the
Historian’s office. In the last ten years thousands of
people come to the annual Summer Fest the third weekend
in July. Music, games for kids, entertainment, tractor
pulls and lawn mower races at no cost to our guests.
Food can be purchased at a reasonable rate.
