The story
Read it all →How Ransom came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ransom.
The first post office in Ransom was established in 1887, but it was called Ogdensburgh until 1888.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Ransom
Ransom’s post office opened in 1888, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Henry Tilley House.
1888first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Ransom began
When was Ransom founded?
1888
The Ransom post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ogdensburgh (1887), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
2020 census: 260138 years
Founding year: the first Ransom post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Ransom’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Ransom’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ransom’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Ransom, 1887 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1887Post officeThe Ogdensburgh post office opens
- 1888Post officeThe Ogdensburgh post office closes
- 1888Post officeThe Ransom post office opens
- 20th century
- 1979
Born hereRuth Riley is born here
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in Ransom
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Henry Tilley House
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Ransom’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Ogdensburgh, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ogdensburgh
Ransom
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Ransom’s history
What year was Ransom founded?
The Ransom post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Ransom?
One place: the Henry Tilley House (listed 2006).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.