Jacob Shupe was the first pioneer settler of Amherst Township in 1811. The land he moved to was known as Beaver Creek Settlement. It was later incorporated into the village. Shupe's pioneering efforts within the township, which included constructing his own gristmill/saw-mill and distillery, certainly added to the area's desirability for later pioneers to settle here.

Josiah Harris in 1818 was the first settler in what would become known as Amherst Corners Village and later became North Amherst (which is downtown Amherst)  

It became a City of Amherst in 1960. As of the census of 2020, there were 12,681 people, 

By the latter 1800s, Amherst acquired the title Sandstone Center of the World.