Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of New Hamburg was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1934 on.
The New Hamburg post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Saint Lawrence (1866), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Hamburg’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of New Hamburg.
New Hamburg was originally called Hamburg, and under the latter name was platted in 1866. The community was named after Hamburg, in Germany, the native land of a large share of the first settlers. A post office called New Hamburg was established in 1874, and remained in operation until 1972.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Hamburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Hamburg.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Hamburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in New Hamburg itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
New Hamburg had its own post office from 1874 to 1972. Another post office, Saint Lawrence, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The New Hamburg post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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