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 47% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1820.
1810first post office
5on the National Register
47%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.
First census: 2,030 in 18202020 census: 1,586216 years
How historic is Athens?
A+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 98% 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 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 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 194047.3% of homes (±7.2) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register5 listings, 297 historic buildings, 1,529 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 98%
NewerOlder
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’ 1,529 sits above most of its state (98% of New York towns have fewer) while its 297 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 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.
★ What stands out · 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.
Every 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.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Athens, 1900–1906
Passages that mention Athens, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Greece [microform]1900 · page 472Read the page →
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against the Thessalian cavalry. But the two events have not a single circumstance in common, except that each is a victory over the Peisistratida or their allies: nor could they well be the same event, described in different terms, seeing that Kleomenés, marching from Sparta to Athens, could not have fought the Thessalians at Palléné, which lay on the road from Marathon to Athens. Palléné was the place where Peisistratus, advancing from Marathon to Athens, on occasion of his second restoration, gained his com plete victory over the opposing party, and marched on afterwards to Athens
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Greece [microform]1900 · page 467Read the page →
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8,9 Polit. ¥ GRATEFUL RECOLLECTION OF THE DEED. 115 ernment and liberated Athens. Both poets and philosophers shared ihiis faith. which is distinctly put forth in the beautiful and popular Skolion or song on the subject: the two friends are thera celebrated as the authors of liberty at Athens, —“ they slew the despot and gave to Athens equal laws.”! So inestimable a pres-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Annals of Athens, Georgia, 1801-19011906 · page 350Read the page →
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The city of Athens put $100,000 into th-e capital stock of the North Eastern Railroad and afterwards gave it away to the Southern for nothing.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Annals of Athens, Georgia, 1801-19011906 · page 427Read the page →
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son, President of the North Eastern Railroad, President of the National Bank of Athens, owner with Mr. Moss, of Tallulah Falls, and with interests in various other properties, he was one of Athens' most substantial citizens. But in addition to this, Mr. Childs was a good man, upright, charitable and kind. I do not suppose tlat anyone ever spake an unkind word about
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, 1840 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 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 … - 1893
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1906Born hereDernell Every is born here
- 1913
In the archiveOldest building at Athens, N.Y., 205 years old - 1933
In the archiveHABS NY,20-ATH,2- (sheet 1 of 9) - Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Hudson River
By decade
Athens, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1880s–1930s6 items
1889The New administration-visitors paying their respects…1913Oldest building at Athens, N.Y., 205 years old1933HABS NY,20-ATH,2- (sheet 1 of 9) - Hudson-Athens Ligh…
1933HABS NY,20-ATH,2- (sheet 1 of 9) - Hudson-Athens Ligh…
1933HABS NY,20-ATH,2- (sheet 2 of 9) - Hudson-Athens Ligh…
1933HABS NY,20-ATH,2- (sheet 2 of 9) - Hudson-Athens Ligh…1940s–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 albumThen & 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 · +15On the National Register
5 listings protect 297 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
297
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People 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
2 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 98% 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.
How old are the homes in Athens?
47% of Athens’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.