Early history: Newcomb and Minerva Many of the earliest roads in the area crossed through Minerva. The first known road that reached the settlement was established in 1804, when land along a highway from
St. Lawrence County to the town of Chester in Warren County was populated by the West family. Minerva was mainly limited to the vicinity of the old highway, but as more people settled along the road, the town began to grow. For a time, the town boasted several water-powered sawmills, and the highway was used to transport lumber. However, the lumber industry began to fail, and by 1840, the logging and lumber system had been replaced by crops. The town initiated river drives, which continued until 1950. After 1845, Newcomb's iron ore industry began to decline and the town evolved into somewhat of a sportsmen's resort. As a result, a road was built connecting Newcomb with nearby Minerva and Long Lake. The section of 28N between Long Lake and North Creek is a scenic byway named the Roosevelt–Marcy Trail. This was the route traveled on September 10, 1901 by Theodore Roosevelt, then Vice President of the United States. The vice president had hiked to the summit of nearby
Mount Marcy earlier, while there, learned that President
William McKinley, having been shot four days earlier by anarchist
Leon Czolgosz in
Buffalo, was near death. Roosevelt took an overnight wagon ride to North Creek. From the train station there, he traveled to Buffalo, where, after McKinley died, he was sworn in as president on September 14.
Designation and bridge rehabilitation |alt=Two unmaintained highways intersect near a large, dilapidated cabin. A second cabin is in the background, reachable by one of the roads. The area is completely surrounded by trees, and large mountains are visible off in the distance. The routing of NY 28N was originally designated, but not signed, as part of legislative Route 25 in 1908. In 1924, the portion of Route 25 from
Long Lake to
North Creek was designated as part of the signed
NY 10. The segment of former Route 25 between
Blue Mountain Lake and Long Lake became part of
NY 10A in the late 1920s. In the
1930 renumbering, the NY 10A designation was eliminated, and NY 10 was rerouted south of Long Lake to follow the modern routing of
NY 30 south to
Speculator. The former routing of NY 10 between Long Lake and North Creek was then administratively redesignated as NY 28N, The
New York State Department of Transportation has scheduled for NY 28N to undergo construction in spring 2013, to rehabilitate the bridge over the
Upper Hudson River Railroad. The $5.9 million project is projected to be complete in fall of 2015, and is to be supported by state and federal funds.
New York State Department of Transportation has also planned for NY 28N's bridge over Stillwater Brook in Minerva to be replaced with a stronger structure. The development of the project is expected to take place 2014, with bids and construction starting in 2016. The project has been set to end in 2017, and is predicted to cost $1.1 million of federal and state funds. ==Major intersections==