The story
Read it all →How Athens came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Athens.
The town of Athens was formed on February 25, 1815 from parts of the towns of Catskill and Coxsackie.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A+History
History · Athens
Athens’ post office opened in 1810, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #134 of 758 in New York. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 294 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1820.
1810first post office
10on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
4famous people
Quick answers
How Athens began
When was Athens founded?
1810
The Athens post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Loonenburg (1803) and Limestreet (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,030 in 18202020 census: 3,916216 years
How historic is Athens?
A+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Athens post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Athens’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Athens is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #134 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Athens’ overall grade.
Founding era1810, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194028.3% of homes (±5.2) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register10 listings, 313 historic buildings, 795 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 82%
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 Athens’ 795 sits above most of its state (95% of New York towns have fewer) while its 313 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 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 Athens’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A historic districtThe Athens Lower Village Historic District takes in 267 historic buildings.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1980. Watch Athens change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Athens, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1912, drew every building in Athens.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
10 listings protect 313 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
10
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
313
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Newkirk Homestead
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival5
Late Victorian2
Federal2
Colonial1
Colonial Vernacular1
Italianate1
Newkirk HomesteadBuilding
Albertus Van Loon HouseColonial · Built 1724
Athens Lower Village Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Brick Row Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Stranahan-DelVecchio HouseGreek Revival
Zion Lutheran ChurchGreek Revival
William Brandow HouseColonial Vernacular
Rushmore FarmBuilding
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Athens on the map, 1893 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Athens. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Coxsackie sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Athens.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Athens’s post office has been open since 1810. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Loonenburg
Athens
Limestreet
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LimestreetSleepy Hollow LakeWest Athens
Gone or out of use
Athens AirportairportSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Athens
Athens RuralLimestreetMount Hope
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Athens in 1900
Passages that mention Athens, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Greece [microform]1900 · page 474Read the page →
Read the text
Life, character, and poems of Solon. — War between Athens and Megara about Salamis. — Acquisition of Salamis by Athens. — Settlement of the dispute by Spartan arbitration in favor of Athens. — State of Athens im mediately before the legislation of Solon.— Internal dissension — misery of the poorer population. — Slavery of the debtors —law of debtor and creditor. — Injustice and rapacity of the rich. — General mutiny, and necessity for a large reform. — Solon made archon, and invested with full powers of legislation. -- He refuses to make himself despot. — His sei-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Greece [microform]1900 · page 563Read the page →
Read the text
maidens in the temple of Apollo, during the century δυσουδέιν 360 Β. c. At that time it was the creat central festival of line fonians in Asia and Europe; frequented by the twelve Ionic cities, in and near Asia Minor, as well as by Athens and Chalkis in Europe: it had not yet been superseded by the Ephesia Ἢ the exclusive festival of the former, nor had the Pansthenwa of Athens reached the importance which afterwards came to belong io them during the plenitude of the Athenian power. ἡ
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.
Timeline
Athens, 1724 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1724BuiltAlbertus Van Loon House is built
- 19th century
- 1803Post officeThe Loonenburg post office opens
- 1810Post officeThe Loonenburg post office closes
- 1810Post officeThe Athens post office opens
- 1840
Born hereEugene D. Dimmick is born here - 1886
Born hereCrane Wilbur is born here - 1887
Born hereJohn Van Wie Bergamini is born here - 1889
In the archiveThe New administration-visitors paying their respects to President Harrison at the White … - 1891Post officeThe Limestreet post office opens
- 1893
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1903Post officeThe Limestreet post office closes
- 1906Born hereDernell Every is born here
- 1933
In the archiveHABS NY,20-ATH,2- (sheet 1 of 9) - Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Hudson River
By decade
Athens, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890s–1920snothing 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 album1930s5 items
1933
1933
1933
19331940s–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 albumEvery building
Athens, building by building, 1886–1912
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 year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn 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.
Retake this viewThe New administration-visitors paying their respects to President Harrison at the White House. The presidential train …, 1889
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Athens’ page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Athens, census by census
Between 2,030 and 4,089 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Athens’ Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Athens
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Help out
Finish Athens’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Athens’ history
What year was Athens founded?
The Athens post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Athens rank for history?
Athens is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #134 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.
What is on the National Register in Athens?
10 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Newkirk Homestead (listed 1979, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Athens Lower Village Historic District and the Brick Row Historic District, with 294 contributing buildings. 313 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Athens?
28% of Athens’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1967.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.