The Town of Florence covers 33,473 acres in the northwest corner of Oneida County. By legislative act on February 16, 1805, the political town was formed from a part of Camden. The boundaries coincided with those of the survey town of Florence, which included the fourth and part of the third townships of Scriba's Patent. It was the only town in Oneida County which retained the name of the original survey town.

Florence-Osceola stage in front of Orr's store about 1900

In 1819 Gerrit Smith of Peterboro, New York, purchased 17,560.50 acres in the Town of Florence from William Henderson. To promote the development of the Town of Florence, Smith hired land agents, who sold the land for him at $4.50 an acre.

The earliest settlers were people of English ancestry who came from the New England states. In the 1830s there was an influx of Irish who had heard of the sale of land at a low price, or had friends or relatives who had settled there. Some of them had worked on the Erie Canal, and some continued to work on the canal during the summer to earn enough to pay for their land. A log cabin was usually built in which the family lived until the land could be cleared, crops planted, and until they could afford to build a house.

Four settlements developed: Florence, Florence Hill, Thomson Corners and Empeyville. Roads were built as the need arose and as land in remote sections was settled.

Town Hall circa 1900

Churches and schools were among the primary con­cerns of these people. Rural schools were built throughout the town. The school district number ranged to 20. In 1943 the Florence schools were centralized in the Camden Central School District. The village school was operated under the centralized district until 1967. The building was purchased by the Florence Methodist Church in 1974.

The Florence Methodist Church was organized sometime before 1833. In 1833-34 a building was constructed on the River Road a short distance from the Old State Road. The land was sold to the society by Mrs. Polly Storms for $1. St. Mary's Catholic Church was founded as a parish in September 1845, by Bishop Hughes of New York City. The Catholic Church building was built in 1833-34 by the Rev. Daniel Hascall, a Baptist minister. Hascall was one of the leaders in the founding of the Baptist Educational Society of New York and the Hamilton Literary and Theological Seminary, which later became Colgate University.

Other church organizations were formed which have been discontinued. In 1823, a Baptist church building was constructed in the center of the village of Florence. This was built by the members of the congregation from local stone and lumber. This was also built with assistance from Gerit Smith.

In 1839 the town began to use the basement of the Baptist Church to conduct town business. In 1888 the town purchased the building. It is still used as the town hall. The population increased in the Town of Florence to a peak of 2,802 in 1860, then began to decline.

Little River stone arch bridge

Industries which developed were those which served the needs of the residents, such as blacksmith shops, asheries, tanneries, sawmills, harness shops, cobblers shops, gristmills, cheese factories, etc. There were also several hotels, general stores, a drugstore, and a box and casket factory. As the need for these services diminished, the businesses went out of existence. During a period of time in the 19th century professional services were offered by two doctors, a dentist, and a lawyer.

A post office was located at Thomson Corners until April 1863, when it was moved to Empeyville where it was still located in 1878. There is no available record of the date this office was discontinued. A post office in the village of Florence was closed in 1953 and mail service since that time has been by the post office in Camden.

During the last several years many farms have been sold to the State of New York. In 1973 tax records showed over 11,000 acres had reverted to state ownership.

A large stone arch bridge built of local stone without mortar crosses Little River at the edge of the village of Florence on the River Road. No records are available on the date of construction or by whom it was built. The road over the bridge leads to the Graves Cemetery at the top of the hill across Little River. Stones in the cemetery bear dates from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Florence is one of the core towns of the Tug Hill area. The Tug Hill area is approximately 40 miles wide by 50 miles long and contains some 1,285,000 acres. The region includes 39 towns in parts of Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida and Oswego Counties, and a population of about 81,500. Forests cover much of the area.

Legendary Tug Hill Winters