On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Albion is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Albion’s overall grade.
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 Albion’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Albion’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Sand Bank
1825–1895
Salmon River
1839–1903
Dugway
1850–1903
New Centreville
1852–1893
Howardville
1875–1902
New Centerville
1893–1914
Altmar
1895–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Albion CenterAltmarCentervilleDugwayHowardvillePinevilleScotch Pine Manor Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Bethel ChurchchurchSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 8school
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Albion
Albion CenterDugwayRiversideSalmon RiverWhite
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
By decade
Albion, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Prior to 1788, Native Americans would come to the area to hunt and fish for salmon during the spawning season. They called it Alkineaur, meaning "sand bank." The territory was annexed to the state of New York on March 1, 1788.
Then, in 1791, two brothers, John and Nicholas Roosevelt bought a tract of land from the state, part of which would later become the town of Albion. They sold the land to George Scriba, a Dutchman, on April 7, 1792. In December 1794, Scriba received a patent from the state. The land was now referred to as "Scriba's Patent."
Passages that mention Albion, cut from the printed page as they were published.
... History of Oswego County, New York1877 · page 50Read the page →
Read the text
which has been taken from Richland ; No. 2 1 was Richland, and comprised about three-fifths of the town of that name south of Salmon river; No. 22 was Alkmaer, now the town of Albion ; No. 23 was Strasburg, which corresponded exactly with the present town of Parish. These townships were laid out with lines mostly parallel, and perpendicular to the base-line running from Fort Stanwix to Fort Ontario. None of them lay on both sides
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
... History of Oswego County, New York1877 · page 280Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Albion has an area of thirty thousand four hundred and thirty-three acres, and the assessor's valuation of real estate and incorporated companies is five hundred and fifty-three thousand eight hundred and twenty dollars, and the equalized valuation of the same is five hundred and seventy-three thousand nine hundred and sixty-six dollars.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Albion, 1825 to 1942
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Albion is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Albion?
21% of Albion’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 Library of Congress (16), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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2011
