French's Gazetteer is a complete history and description of every county, city, town, village, and locality in New York. It is also a record of the founders and early settlers of practically every locality in the state. Information given for each locality includes founding (and founders), early settlements (and settlers) historical sketches to the time of the original writing in 1860, leading institutions, schools and churches, prominent and representative citizens, stories of general and local interest, statistics from state censuses, and names of natural and man-made topographical features. The Gazetteer opens with a 150-page survey of the government, topography, and institutions of the state of New York. In 1983 Frank Place compiled an Index of Names, which is included in this reprint.