Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #281 of 758 in New York. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1820.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aurora is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #281 of 758 in New York. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings 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 Aurora’s 18.0 sits near the middle of its state (55% of New York towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
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).
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Aurora.
The town was created in 1818 from the (now defunct) town of Willink, which once contained all the southern part of Erie County. By a close vote, citizens voted to change the name to "Aurora" in a display of their growing dissatisfaction with the Holland Land Company and its stockholders, which included Willem Willink.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Aurora, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the year 1804, my father, John Treat, came from Vermont and settled in the Town of Aurora, near the present Village of Aurora. He built for himself a log cabin, hung up
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas B. Soule, the surveyor and teacher, settled on lot twenty-three, township six, range eight, and removed from there: in 1838, to the Town of Aurora, this county, and died there soon after, Charles E. Soule, now of Kansas, is his only son. Abram H. Soule, settled in Hamburg one and one-half miles north of the village, raised a large family. Hon. Oscar H, Soule, his eldest, now resides near the old homestead. Jonathan, the eldest son, came to this town some three or four years
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 hereAlonzo Delano is born here
Born hereTheodore L. Cuyler is born here
Born hereHorace Boies is born here
Born hereMillard Powers Fillmore is born here
In the archiveAurora, N.Y. from the "North Poplars"
In the archiveAurora (Township)
In the archiveA. C. Osborn.; Res. of A. C. Osborn, Holland, N.Y.; Planing Mill and Residence of Horace …BuiltRoycroft Campus is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1848Aurora, N.Y. from the "North Poplars"1866Aurora (Township)
1866Aurora Woolen Mills, Torry and Bartlett Bro's
1866North Boston (Village); Boston (Village); Boston Busi…1880A. C. Osborn.; Res. of A. C. Osborn, Holland, N.Y.; P…
1880Aurora (Township)
1880Interior View of S. B. Thomson's General Store, " The…
1880Residence of H. C. Jewett - Res. of Jewett; Training …
1880Yeoman's Hotel, East Aurora, N.Y.; "Niagara View"Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Aurora. 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 Aurora.
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 Aurora’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,285 and 14,426 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Aurora’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Aurora is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #281 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.
7 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 6 buildings, among them the Millard Fillmore House (a National Historic Landmark since 1974), and 1 historic district, the Roycroft Campus, with 13 contributing buildings. 25 historic buildings in all.
30% of Aurora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
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