The origins of NY 261 date back to the mid-1910s when the highway was initially taken over by the state. It went unnumbered—in terms of having a posted designation—until , at which time it became NY 261. The portion of NY 261 between the Lake Ontario State Parkway and Manitou Beach was initially state-maintained; however, it has since been transferred to Monroe County, which maintains the road as the unsigned County Route 272 (CR 272). The section of NY 261 north of the parkway lost its designation by January 2017.