The settlement was first called "Meng's Mill", named for John Meng, an early settler who established a grist mill here. In the 1780s, the mill was owned by Benjamin Town and John Town, the settlement's namesake. By 1882, Townsbury had a post office, grist mill, lumber mill, and a "good local trade". The population was 102. A line of the
Lehigh and Hudson River Railway passed through Townsbury. The abandoned railbed now forms the Pequest Wildlife Management Area Trail, a recreational
rail trail between Townsbury and
Buttzville. ==References==