The Altona post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Forest (1865), Irona (1868) and Alder Bend (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,665 in 18602020 census: 2,666168 years
How historic is Altona?
C
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Altona post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Altona’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Altona is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #719 of 758 in New York. 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 Altona’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 Altona’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 D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 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 Altona’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was home to various cultures of indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Archeological studies have found that by 1300 CE, the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, a distinct group who spoke the Laurentian language, built fortified villages similar to those visited and described by explorer Jacques Cartier in the mid-16th century. They are believed to have been pushed out and defeated later in that century by the Mohawk, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.
The Altona post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Altona rank for history?
Altona is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #719 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.
How old are the homes in Altona?
18% of Altona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
