The story
Read it all →How Afton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Afton.
The area of Afton was first settled around 1786. The town of Afton was founded from part of the town of Bainbridge in 1857.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Afton
Afton’s post office opened in 1857, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #428 of 758 in New York. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
1857first post office
1on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Quick answers
How Afton began
When was Afton founded?
1857
The Afton post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Bettsburg (1808), South Bainbridge (1819) and Church Hollow (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,992 in 18602020 census: 2,769169 years
How historic is Afton?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Afton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Afton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Afton is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #428 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Afton’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194044.1% of homes (±8.3) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 11 historic buildings, 40.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 44%
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Afton’s 40.2 sits above most of its state (65% of New York towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Afton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Afton, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 4,203 in 1910; 2,769 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1912, drew every building in Afton.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Afton’s post office has been open since 1857. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bettsburg
South Bainbridge
Church Hollow
Afton
Nineveh Junction
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BettsburgEast AftonKelsey Brook Trailer CourtMiddle BridgeNineveh JunctionNorth Afton
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Afton
EastsideFirst Baptist ChurchGlenwoodMelondy HillNorth AftonReed GuyStevens
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Afton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Afton’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Afton, census by census
Peaked at 4,203 in 1910; 2,769 people lived here in 2020.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Afton’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Afton, 1808 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1808Post officeThe Bettsburg post office opens
- 1819Post officeThe South Bainbridge post office opens
- 1838Post officeThe Bettsburg post office closes
- 1842
Born hereFranklin B. Long is born here - 1854Post officeThe Church Hollow post office opens
- 1857Post officeThe South Bainbridge post office closes
- 1859Post officeThe Church Hollow post office closes
- 1871Born hereJohn Adelbert Davis is born here
- 1875
In the archiveAfton (Village); Afton (Township); Afton Business Notices - 1882
Born hereCarlton J. H. Hayes is born here - 20th century
- 1905
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1906Born hereHelen Bevington is born here
- 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 4,203
By decade
Afton, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
On the map
Afton on the map, 1905 to 1957
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Afton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Nineveh sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Afton.
Every building
Afton, building by building, 1885–1912
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewAfton (Village); Afton (Township); Afton Business Notices, 1875
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Afton’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 listing protects 11 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Main Street Historic District
Districts
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Afton
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Afton’s history
What year was Afton founded?
The Afton post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Afton rank for history?
Afton is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #428 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Afton?
One place: the Main Street Historic District (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Afton?
44% of Afton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1952.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.