 Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts, precincts, and boroughs.Though originally intended to be mere “…involuntary subdivisions of the state, constituted for the purpose of the more convenient exercise of governmental functions by the state for the benefit of all its citizens” as defined by the courts in 1916 ("Short v. Town of Orange"), towns gained home rule powers from the state in 1964, at which time towns became "a municipal corporation comprising the inhabitants within its boundaries, and formed with the purpose of exercising such powers and discharging such duties of local government and administration of public affairs as have been, or, maybe "[sic]" conferred or imposed upon it by law.”

The following is a timeline showing the creation of the current towns from their predecessors stretching back to the earliest municipal entity over the area.The timelines only represent which town(s) a particular town was created from and does not represent annexations of territory to and from towns that already existed.