Theresa is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 2,905 at the 2010 census, up from 2,414 in 2000. The town is named after Theresa La Ray, the daughter of an indigenous landowner.

The town of Theresa contains a village in addition to named Theresa. The town and village are in the northern allowance of the county, north-northeast of Watertown.

The history of Theresa begins taking into consideration the Native American cultures who lived in the area as to come as 841 B.C. The first of the Native tribes to inhabit the town of Theresa was a action called the Meadowood Phase, who were at the forefront Woodland Indians according to the categorization of Dr. William A. Ritchie. This tribe is believed to be allowance of the in the future Adena culture and subsisted upon hunting and gathering. Evidence of the tribe existing in the area was found at Muskellunge and Red lakes with finds of weapon points, nets, sinkers, and further various tools from needles to a beaver tooth wood scraper. Later, the Iroquois used the Theresa area as a hunting and fishing ground. Evidence supports that at one reduction the Iroquois had villages in the surrounding Place and used the waterways of Theresa for trade and travel.

The first Europeans to stay in the town were not settlers, but smugglers using the waterways for business. The Indian River was a highway for trade and ship traffic, the obstruction of the high falls notwithstanding. The falls made it vital for travelers to unload and carry merchandise from the upper to degrade level. Smugglers, normally having no become old to spare, required the use of two flat-bottom boats. Travelers in less of a hurry also carried their boats to the degrade level, but smugglers used a second ship and solitary the first boat. Many ahead of time pioneers found and had free use of the and no-one else boats in the early harmony of the town.