Ontario, NY

Ontario is a hamlet and census-designated place in Wayne County, occupying the town's central crossroads around Ridge Road and Knickerbocker Road. The 2020 census counted 2,215 residents. The CDP includes the hamlet of Ontario and the east half of Ontario Center, so the place sits inside a larger rural town while carrying its own name. Government offices for the Town of Ontario are in the hamlet, giving the crossroads a civic role beyond its homes and small businesses. Ontario's town history begins with first settlers in 1806, the separation from Williamson in 1807, and the name adopted in 1808.

That town history is closely tied to Lake Ontario, fruit farming, rail access, and the Erie Canal. Ontario's apple growers and canneries helped build the wider town economy, while iron ore mines later fed a paint industry known for the red pigment used on barns. The Robert Emmett Ginna Nuclear Power Plant came online in 1970 on the lakeshore, adding a major energy employer to a landscape still marked by farms and lake roads. In the CDP itself, the town offices, Ridge Road, Knickerbocker Road, the Ontario Center connection, and nearby Brick Church Corners historic district give the settlement a recognizable civic and crossroads shape.