Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #537 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: maps from 1895 on and old-book passages.
The Argyle post office opened in 1805, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Argyle (1825) and South Argyle (1831), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Argyle is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #537 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Argyle’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.
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 →
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 Argyle’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Argyle. 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 Argyle.
Argyle’s post office has been open since 1805. 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Argyle yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1805. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,782 to 3,644 (-4%).
Passages that mention Argyle, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Charles H. Fullerton was born in the town of Argyle, Washington County, May 18, 1852, and was educated at the Argyle Academy. When twenty years of age, in 1872, he left school and began farming with his father. On January 9, 1884, he married Margaret C. Cherry, of East Greenwich, N. Y., who was a graduate of the Salem Academy.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Root is one of the most enterprising and progressive men in the town of Argyle, and takes a deep interest in church, educational, and, in fact, in all public affairs. Nelson Norton was born in Chesterfield, Essex County, N. Y., March 5, 1848. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and has always been engaged in the occupation of farming. Plis grandfather, Rufus Norton, was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyNobody well known was born in Argyle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Argyle post office opened in 1805, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Argyle is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #537 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.
36% of Argyle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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