Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Alexandria’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alexandria is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #266 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alexandria’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 Alexandria’s 29.6 sits near the middle of its state (61% 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 A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points). Two sources give 1821.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Alexandria’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
Alexandria had its own post office from 1823 to 1883. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Alexandria
1823–1883
Plessis
1823–today
Redwood
1833–today
Alexandria Centre
1843–1855
Alexandria Bay
1883–today
Westminster Park
1891–1918
Point Vivian
1892–1934
Saint Lawrence Park
1892–1915
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alexandria BayAlexandria CenterBean Hill CrossingBrowns CornersEdgewood ParkGodfreys CornerGoose BayMeadow Lane Mobile Home ParkPinehurst ResortPlessisPoint VivianRedwoodSaint Lawrence ParkSwan Bay Estates Mobile Home ParkWestminster Park
Gone or out of use
Baileys SchoolhouseschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 13schoolSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 20schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 9schoolThousand Islands Drive-Inlocale
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alexandria
The first settlement occurred at Alexandria Center around 1811.
The Battle of Cranberry Creek, during the War of 1812, was a minor engagement in which local forces defeated a much larger group of British soldiers and sailors who attempted to regain supplies and provisions taken by the Americans.
The town was established in 1821 from the towns of Brownville and Le Ray.
The Densmore Methodist Church of the Thousand Islands was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Passages that mention Alexandria, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jefferson County, New York1878 · page 271Read the page →
Read the text
This place of resort for the summer months has been inaugurated by the Presbyterians, on the lower end of Wellesley Island, in the St. Lawrence river, in the confines of the town of Alexandria. The association under whose auspices the park is maintained is incorporated under the Act of the Legislature of New York passed in 1853, being chapter 117 of the session laws of that year, and the acts amendatory thereof. The articles of association were dated
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York1854 · page 83Read the page →
Read the text
mill, two saw-mills, two wagon shops, and several other shops, with water power. In 1850 it had 58 families, and 332 inhabitants. It is on the Military Road, 13 miles from Hammond, and distant 7 miles from Alexandria Bay, 3 fromPlessis, and 6 from Theresa. Alexandria, Alexandria Centre, Plessis and Redwood are post offices in this town. The Alexandrian Library was formed June 2, 1823, having for its first trustees Jerre Carrier, Willard Merrick, William Merrill, Hiram Mills, Jonathan B. ,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He moved to Herkimer, this State, in 1806, and after a few years removed to Trenton Falls, Oneida county, where he engaged in the mercantile trade. He settled in the present town of Alexandria in 1838, where he purchased and cleared up the farm upon which he resided till his death, in 1874, at the age of eighty-six years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York1854 · page 214Read the page →
Read the text
store, inn, grist mill and saw mills, a Methodist church, a few shops, and about 25 families. It is on the edge of the town, nearly two miles north of Penet's Square, and near the line of Alexandria. At Fish's Landing, at the mouth of the creek, is a wooding station, but a place of little or no trade. Omar is 7 miles from Clayton, 7 from Plessis, 7 from Alexandria Bay, and 5 from La Fargeville.
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
Alexandria, 1821 to 1903
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1821, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Alexandria’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1830 counted 1,523 people here.
How does Alexandria rank for history?
Alexandria is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #266 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 Alexandria?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Cornwall Brothers' Store (listed 1975, the first). 11 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Alexandria?
32% of Alexandria’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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 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.
2010
2008
