Located to the northwest of what is now the Franklin County seat of Malone, this small hamlet was originally named Macomb. It was incorporated from all of township number one of the original Macomb Purchase and included the St. Regis Reservation. Before its incorporation by an act of Legislature on March 30, 1833 and effective on May 1, 1833, Bombay was part of the township of Ft. Covington. The town of Bombay was named by Michael Hogan in honor of his wife who was a native of Bombay, India.
The first of two parcels of land which would later become part of the town of Bombay was originally purchased from Alexander Macomb by Michael Hogan in 1807 and consisted of 10,168 acres costing $15,250.00. The second parcel of 9,949 acres was purchased from a John McVickar for $19,899.80 and gave Hogan all of what was then called the town of Macomb. Michael’s son, William, was the Hogan on record for most of the sales of these lands. William A. Wheeler, who went on to become Vice President of the United States, was also noted as an agent for these early land sales.
Two small hamlets encompassed in this township are Hogansburg and South Bombay. Hogansburg is located to the north of Bombay alongside the St. Regis Reservation and the Canadian border. Before being named Hogansburgh (this was the correct original spelling), this hamlet was first known as St. Regis Mills and then in the early 1800s as Gray’s Mills. It was so named for a man named Gray who had been made a captive in Washington County and raised by the Mohawk natives in the area. Gray went on to be a highly influential member of the community. The second hamlet, South Bombay, is located south of Bombay corners and north of the town of Moira. At one time this small hamlet had seven businesses and it’s own post office.