New York State Route 126

New York State Route 126
NY 126 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT
Length	28.56 mi[1] (45.96 km)
Existed	July 1, 1977[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	NY 12 on Watertown city/town line
Major intersections	NY 26 in West Carthage
East end	NY 812 in Croghan
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Counties	Jefferson, Lewis
Highway system
New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways
← NY 125 → NY 127
← NY 26 → NY 26B

New York State Route 126 (NY 126) is a 28.56-mile-long (45.96 km) state highway in the North Country of New York in the United States. It proceeds in a roughly northwest to southeast direction between NY 12 at the eastern city line of Watertown in central Jefferson County and NY 812 in the village of Croghan in northern Lewis County. In between, NY 126 serves the adjacent villages of West Carthage and Carthage, where the route has overlaps with NY 3 (in Carthage) and NY 26 (in West Carthage). Most of the route passes through rural areas, and the portion southeast of Carthage parallels either the Black River or a tributary of it.

The portion of NY 126 between Carthage and Croghan was originally part of New York State Route 26A (NY 26A), an alternate route of NY 26 assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. It began at NY 26 in Lowville and passed through Croghan before ending at NY 3 and NY 26 in Carthage. At the time, the section of what is now NY 126 from Broad Street in West Carthage to James Street in Carthage was part of NY 26.

NY 26A ceased to exist on July 1, 1974 when it was replaced by two new routes: NY 126 northwest of Croghan and NY 812 south of the village. In 1979, the state of New York acquired two county roads leading from West Carthage—one connecting to Evans Mills and another that went to Watertown—as part of a highway maintenance swap between the state and Jefferson County. NY 26 was realigned to follow the new state highway leading to Evans Mills, while NY 126 was extended westward to its current terminus in Watertown by way of NY 26's original routing through Carthage and West Carthage and the newly acquired highway linking West Carthage and Watertown.