Template:Wp-Galen, New York-History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Before the French and Indian War, there was a French block house and trading post near Clyde.

The town was first settled around 1800 near Marengo.

The town was part of a tract set aside for physicians and surgeons of the Colonial Army as part of the Central New York Military Tract used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. Galen was formed from the Town of Junius in Seneca County in 1812 and became part of Wayne County in 1823, but lost part of its area to form the Town of Savannah in 1824.

The glass industry was important during the early history of Galen.

Remnants of the former Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 53 (also called the Clyde Lock) are located near the corner of N.Y. Route 31 and Old Route 31, just west of the Village of Clyde. It was built in 1841 as a single-chamber lock, but doubled in 1874. The lock had a lift of 4.63 feet (1.41 m) to the west. It currently sits on private property.

The town is part of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. Erie Canal Lock 26 is located at the end of Lock Road, off Tyre Road (CR 372) southeast of Clyde. It was built around 1912, and has a lift of 6 feet (1.83 m) to the west.