Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1831.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Allegany’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Allegany is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Allegany’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 Allegany’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1820.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Allegany’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The town was first settled around 1820 by Ebenezer Reed, who moved from Connecticut. The Town of Allegany was formed on April 18, 1831, as the "Town of Burton" from a part of the town of Great Valley. On March 28, 1851, the name was changed to "Allegany.".
In 1836, part of Allegany was used to form the Town of Humphrey.
A new community to be called "Allegany City" was proposed in 1837 to be built south of the Village of Allegany, but the plan was halted after a planned railroad changed its route.
Passages that mention Allegany, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve1851 · page 575Read the page →
Read the text
recent, and but small improvements had been made. In Livingston the considerable improvements were principally confined to the flats of the Genesee and Canascraga, the Butialo road, Livonia, Conesus, Groveland and Sparta. A large portion of Allegany wag a wilderness ; there were but few recent and feeble settlements. The older settlements in Steuben had began to produce a small surplus,
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
Allegany, 1820 to 1898
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1820, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Allegany’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1840 counted 530 people here.
How does Allegany rank for history?
Allegany is more historic than 70% 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 Allegany?
38% of Allegany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
