Template:Wp-Locke, New York-History

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Locke was in the Central New York Military Tract, used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. The first settlers arrived in 1790. They found evidence of earlier Native American occupants in the form of ruined villages and burial grounds.

The town of Locke was formed in 1802 from the town of Genoa, then known as "Milton". Part of Locke was used in 1817 to form the town of Groton (now in Tompkins County). Another division of Locke in 1831 formed the town of Summerhill.

A devastating fire in 1912 destroyed approximately thirty buildings in Locke village.

A second devastating fire occurred on April 10, 1975, destroying eleven buildings and causing approximately $650,000 in damage. The fire was a result of a gasoline tanker losing its brakes while descending State Route 90 and crashing into the bank at the intersection of State Route 90 and State Route 38.