The Town of Amherst was established in 1818, and the first town meeting was held April 6, 1819, at Frederick Miller's Inn. At this meeting, Timothy S. Hopkins was elected Supervisor, with John Grove as the first Town Clerk.

Amherst started as an industrial community because two Creeks, Ellicott and Tonawanda, furnished power and transportation for grist mills, saw mills, a tannery, forges and a slaughterhouse. The opening of the Erie Canal added further to the development of the town.

Today it is an important community in Erie County where its residents are proud to live and work.

The Town of Amherst has, like other municipalities, passed through the struggles that characterized many American communities in their early history. While only a few simple laws were necessary at the time of the establishment of the town in 1818, subsequent growth of the community, together with the complexity of modern life, has created the need for more and detailed legislation for the proper function and government of the town. The recording of local law is an aspect of municipal history, and as the community develops and changes, review and revision of old laws and consideration of new laws, in the light of current trends, must keep pace. The orderly collection of these records is an important step in this ever-continuing process. Legislation must be more than mere chronological enactments reposing in the pages of old records. It must be available and logically arranged for convenient use and must be kept up-to-date. It was with thoughts such as these in mind that the Town Board ordered the following recodification of the town's legislation.