Founding year: the first Babylon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Babylon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Babylon is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #446 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Babylon’s overall grade.
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 Babylon’s 2.5 sits below most of its state (27% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Babylon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The region was once called Huntington South. Nathaniel Conklin and Nathan Kowitt moved their families to the area, and around 1803 named it New Babylon, after the ancient city of Babylon.
The town was officially formed in 1872 by a partition of the Town of Huntington.
The following communities and locations are within the Town of Babylon:
Lindenhurst, in the southern part of the town, between the villages of Babylon and Amityville.
Gilgo, includes communities of West Gilgo Beach, Gilgo Beach, and Cedar Beach
Captree Island, an island partly in the southeastern part of the town and containing part of Captree State Park.
quite distinct, indeed distant several miles from Babylon. While speaking of the controversy respecting the identification of the Birs with the Temple of Belus, we stated that many rest in the conclusion that this ruin does represent that edifice, and was included within the walls of Babylon. The supporters of this opinion urge, as an argument in favor of their views, that it is incredible to suppose that a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The ruins of Babylon have been an inexhaustible quarry for more than twenty centuries. Seleucus Nicator is said, and probably with truth, to have constructed his capital city, Seleucia on the Tigris, of material transported by means of the canals then existing from Babylon. Following his example, almost all subsequent builders of cities, caravan, saries, or structures of any kind in the adjoining
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The seven great monarchies of the ancient eastern world1880 · page 183Read the page →
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any of the other i-uins. This argmnent would be conclusive, even if it stood alone. It has, however, received an important corroboration in the course of recent researches. From the Amran mound, and from this part of Babylon only, have monuments been recovered of an earlier date than Nebuchadnezzar.''" Here and here alone did the early kings leave memorials of their presence in Babylon ; and here consequently, we may presume, stood the ancient royal residence.
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The seven great monarchies of the ancient eastern world1880 · page 151Read the page →
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en. ii] CLIMATE OF SUSIANA. 151 arms of Egypt, who was free to choose her time, and pour her hosts into the country when the attention of Babylon was directed to some other quarter. The physical and political circumstances alike pointed to hostile transactions between Babylon and her south-western neighbor. Whether destruction would come from this quarter, or from some other, it would have been impossible to predict. Perhaps, on the whole, it may be said
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Babylon, 1877 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Babylon post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Babylon rank for history?
Babylon is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #446 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.
How old are the homes in Babylon?
26% of Babylon’s 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 1956.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), 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.
![en. ii] CLIMATE OF SUSIANA. 151 arms of Egypt, who was free to choose her time, and pour her hosts into the country when the attention of Babylon was directed to some other quarter. The physical and political circumstances alike pointed to hostile transactions between Babylon and her south-western …](https://images.townratings.com/story/11750/bk-499ddd87704ff245-l.jpg)
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