Copenhagen, NY

Copenhagen is a Lewis County village between Watertown and Lowville, set along the Deer River where it drops over High Falls toward the Black River. The village began as Mungers Mills, a name tied to early mill activity, before residents chose Copenhagen in 1807 in sympathy with the Danish capital during a period of bombardment by the British Royal Navy. It became an incorporated village in 1896, and its name still gives the local map a memorable Scandinavian turn.

Water and distance shape Copenhagen’s everyday setting. The Deer River cuts through the village, while the roads connect it to the town of Denmark, nearby farms, and the larger North Country centers. A three-day celebration marked the village’s 150th anniversary in 2019, giving the old name a modern community date as well. The 2020 census counted 631 residents. Copenhagen feels like a place built around a river crossing and mill site, then given an international name that refuses to disappear: High Falls at the edge, fields beyond the streets, and the Black River system carrying the story onward.