Theresa, NY

Theresa is a Jefferson County town in northern New York, north-northeast of Watertown, with a village of the same name at the Indian River's high falls. The town was named for Theresa La Ray, daughter of landowner James LeRay, and the 2020 census counted 2,648 residents. Water gave the settlement its first working map: the river carried trade and boat traffic, a bridge crossed it by 1814, and the village later developed around businesses at the falls.

The town still connects river, village, and lakes. Theresa's town offices and highway department are on Riverside Avenue; the town links residents to a fire department, River Hospital, and the Indian River Lakes Conservancy. The 118-acre Red Lake Preserve has two trails and access near Honey Hill Road, while New York's Indian River access at Santway Park supports paddling toward the village. Theresa is a northern Jefferson County town where the old water route remains visible in both the village and the surrounding lake country.