Modern NY 212 was added to the New York state highway system in stages over the course of the early 20th century. The first segment was acquired by the state on July 9, 1902, and extended for from the Woodstock–Saugerties town line to CR 35 in Saugerties. An adjacent section was added on August 15 of that year, extending state maintenance of the road west to CR 45 in Woodstock. The portion of the highway east of CR 35 was added in two parts, the earliest of which became state-maintained on January 11, 1905, and extended from CR 35 to the Saugerties village limits. The section within the village was accepted into the state highway system 15 years later on July 30, 1920. State maintenance was extended northwest from CR 45 to Willow in the early to mid-1920s and southwest to Mount Tremper around the end of the decade. The Mount Tremper–Saugerties state highway did not have a posted route number until the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, when it was designated NY 212.