As the Mohawk River flows south at Nelliston, the village can be said to lie on the eastern bank of the river. Long after its neighbors were thriving communities, Nelliston was but forest, farms and ledge. The building of the Erie Canal in the 1820s turned limestone into a resource to be quarried rather than an impediment to farming. Nevertheless, the village has always lived in the shadow of Fort Plain across the river to the west; even its railroad station was named the Fort Plain station.
Nelliston was one of the first communities in the Mohawk Valley to form a historic district and place the residences of Prospect Street and Water Street on the National Register. Today the village survives as a bedroom community with a handful of retail businesses.

START YOUR VISIT at the Palatine Cheese retail store on East Main Street. Award-winning cheese and cheese products are made right on the premises. Across the street is the Freihofer’s Baking Company outlet store with great deals on freshly baked products. In the Fall, visit the Pavlus Orchard (about a mile out of town on Hickory Hill Road) for an excellent selection of Mohawk Valley grown apples and cider.