Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 74 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1820.
Ancram dates its founding to 1803 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ancram is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Ancram’s 569 sits above most of its state (93% of New York towns have fewer) while its 79 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ancram’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Ancram’s post office has been open since 1826. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Ancram.
Prior to European colonization, the area had been occupied for thousands of years by varying indigenous cultures. Historic Native American nations included the Mahican and Wappinger.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ancram, cut from the printed page as they were published.
This town is well supplied with railroads. The New York and Harlem railroad was built through this town in 1852, and entering at Boston Corners (its only station in Ancram), runs one and three-fourths miles north into Copake. The track of this road is elevated on an embankment some twenty-five feet high for a considerable distance north from this station, and on a slight curve, about half a mile north, the wind has twice blown trains from
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There are four post-offices in this town, located at Ancram, Ancram Lead Mines, Boston Corners, and Weed Mine. There was formerly one known as Ancram Centre, which was discontinued in 1871.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1779 Livingston Manor map
In the archiveAncram (Township)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1770s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2022Blass Memorial Park & Pool
2022Ancram, New York sign
2022Ancram, New York (street)
2022Ancram Town Hall (New York)
2022Ancram Little Store (New York)
2022Ancram Hotel (New York)
2022Ancram General Store, Columbia County
2022Ancram Fire Company
2022Ameristore
2017New York State Route 22 New York State Route 22
2016Hudson Valley landscape from NY 82 near
2016Buildings on NY 82 in Ancram Hamlet Historic District
2010Simons General Store Dec 10
2010New York State Route 82
2004AncramdaleEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ancram. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ancram.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ancram’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 850 and 3,147 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ancram’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Ancram itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1803, according to Wikidata. Ancram’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 1820 counted 3,147 people here.
Ancram is more historic than 93% 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.
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Simons General Store (listed 1973, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Ancram Hamlet Historic District and the Ancramdale Historic District, with 74 contributing buildings. 79 historic buildings in all.
23% of Ancram’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.
1873
