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A−History
History · Altamont

Altamont’s post office opened in 1887, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1900.

1887first post office
4on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Altamont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Altamont began

When was Altamont founded?

1887

The Altamont post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 689 in 19002020 census: 1,675139 years

How historic is Altamont?

A−

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Altamont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Altamont’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Altamont is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Altamont’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194033.9% of homes (±6.4) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register4 listings, 41 historic buildings, 221 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder

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 Altamont’s 221 sits above most of its state (84% of New York towns have fewer) while its 41 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 (±6.4 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 Altamont’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1980. Watch Altamont change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1889–1914.Mystery photos9 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the map

Altamont on the map, 1900 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Altamont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Altamont on the 1900 USGS mapAltamont on the 1944 USGS mapAltamont on the 1980 USGS map1900Berne sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Altamont.

By decade

Altamont, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s3 items
Altamont, N.Y1889Altamont, N.YAltamont, N.Y1890Altamont, N.YAltamont, New York1914Altamont, New York
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown9 to date
George Severson Inn - Altamont N.Y., Albany Co. - N.E. Elevation. - George Severson InnDate?George Severson Inn - Altamont N.Y., Albany Co. - N.E…Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD - NEAR ALTAMONT, ALBANY COUNTY, NEW YORK. - Crounse Homestead, Al…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD…Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD, NEAR ALTAMONT, ALBANY CO., N.Y., (Showing main stairway and orig…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD…Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD, NEAR ALTAMONT, ALBANY CO., N.Y., MAIN ENTRANCE. - Crounse Homest…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD…Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD, NEAR ALTAMONT, ALBANY CO., N.Y., Showing rear part including ori…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, CROUNSE HOMESTEAD…Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Photographer, May 27, 1937, FIREPLACE AND STAIRS, FIRST FLOOR. - Seve…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Pho…Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Photographer, May 27, 1937, FOUNDATION WALL AND BEAMS. - Severson Hou…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Pho…Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Photographer, May 27, 1937, MAIN STAIR HALL. - Severson HouseDate?Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Pho…Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Photographer, May 27, 1937, VIEW FROM ROAD, SHOWING FRONT AND END. - …Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, N.E. Baldwin, Pho…
Today5 recent
Hiram Griggs House2025Hiram Griggs HouseFine Arts Building in a cold December fog2018Fine Arts Building in a cold December fogButtermilk Falls2008Buttermilk FallsUntitled photo2007Untitled photoAltamontRR2007AltamontRR
Help out

Start Altamont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Altamont’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo9 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewAltamont, N.Y: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Altamont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Altamont.

Read it all →

In colonial times, this area was part of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck, granted by the Dutch West India Company to Killian Van Rensselaer in 1630. The area was known as Hellerburgh in the early 18th century. In the early 19th century Knowersville was established in the rural part of Albany County, just below the Helderberg Mountains. This settlement eventually became known as Altamont.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Altamont, 1889 to 1914

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889In the archiveAltamont, N.Y
  3. 1890In the archiveAltamont, N.Y
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900Born hereKeith Falconer Fletcher is born here
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1914In the archiveAltamont, New York
Every building

Altamont, building by building, 1909

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 sheet.

Altamont fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn 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.

Altamont, N.Y
Retake this viewAltamont, N.Y, 1889

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Altamont’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 listings protect 41 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
41
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Altamont, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,737

Between 674 and 1,737 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Altamont’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Altamont’s history

What year was Altamont founded?

The Altamont post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Altamont rank for history?

Altamont is more historic than 82% 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 Altamont?

34% of Altamont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1959.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.