Niagara County Community College was founded on November 8, 1962 but there were no buildings, staff, courses or students. All of that would come in a remarkably short time causing the American Association of Junior Colleges to call NCCC "a miracle of accomplishment."

The first college president, Dr. Ernest Notar, ceremonially opened the front door admitting NCCC's first 343 students on September 30, 1963 in Niagara Falls, New York. The original building, located at 430 Buffalo Avenue, was formerly the office of the Nabisco Shredded Wheat plant, which explains the quickly acquired nickname of "Nabisco Tech."

As the college grew, facilities in Niagara Falls expanded to include the former Third Street School, several homes nearby, the Parkway Inn, the Waldorf-Niagara Motel, the former Olin Laboratory, a former Mormon Church, and a portion of the DeVeaux School. It soon became evident that these temporary facilities had been stretched to the limit and a permanent campus was necessary.
 
Decisions about where the new campus should be located were the subject of debate for some time. Of the many possible sites studied, Pekin was the preferred choice because of its accessibility and nearness to the center of Niagara County's projected population. The Wendt property at the intersection of Route 31 (Saunders Settlement Road) and Route 429 (Townline Road) was eventually selected for the location of NCCC's permanent campus in June 1966. Ground was broken in September 1970 for the eight-building Sanborn campus. The first classes on the new campus began in the spring semester of 1973. The original five curricula expanded as facilities and faculty were added on the Sanborn campus.

Today NCCC has approximately 5,000 students enrolled in over 40 programs of study. Thousands of others take advantage of the College's extensive credit-free courses, short-term vocational programs, as well as many cultural and social events.