Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1830.
Arkwright dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1830.
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 Arkwright’s history is told.
Arkwright had its own post office from 1833 to 1900. Three 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arkwright. 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 Arkwright.
From Wikipedia’s history of Arkwright.
Settlement began circa 1807. The town of Arkwright was established in 1829 from the towns of Villenova and Pomfret.
Dairy farms and cheesemaking were important in the early economy. Arkwright was one of the first towns in New York to form a cheese cooperative.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Arkwright, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Towns : Arkwright Arkwright— The town of Arkwright, in the northern part of the county, surrounded north, east, south and west by Sheridan, Villenova, Charlotte and Pomfret, was formed from Pomfret and Villenova, April 13, 1829. The highest points in the town range from eleven hundred to twelve hundred feet above Lake Erie.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
work upon the New York & Erie railroad, then in process of construction. About fourteen miles of the road was built by them from Dun - kirk into the town of Arkwright. when the work was suspended and this portion of the road abandoned. Theirs was the first work performed in building a railroad in Chautauqua
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.
Born hereSilas M. Weaver is born here
In the archiveDewittville (Village); Hartfield (Village); Arkwright (Township); Hartfield Business Dire…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Arkwright’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 1,418 in 1840; 1,000 people lived here in 2020.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Arkwright’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1807, according to Wikidata. Arkwright’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1830 counted 926 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
