Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1868.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Barrington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barrington is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Barrington’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 Barrington’s 5.6 sits near the middle of its state (37% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1822.
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 (±4.9 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Barrington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settler arrived around 1800, but no others arrived for several years. The land of the town was once part of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase.
The town was established in 1822 while still part of Steuben County from the Towns of Reading and Wayne. In 1826, Barrington was made part of Yates County, a year after the creation of the county.
In 1865, a mineral spring was discovered in the south part of the county, leading to the development of Crystal Spring.
Barrington was the home of two locally renowned country and western bands, The Barrington Ridge Runners (1940–1960) and The Hill and Valley Boys (1957–1967). Most members of these bands were direct descendants of the first settlers of Barrington.
Passages that mention Barrington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Barrington, Rhode Island1898 · page 252Read the page →
Read the text
"A petition of Josiah Torrey, Agent for the Town of Barrington showing that the Meadow Land in the Said Township and in Part owned by the Inhabitants of Rehoboth, & being tax'd by the Assessors of Barrington, the Proprietors refuse to pay the said Taxes, pretending an Agreement between Rehoboth & the Town of Swansea (of which Barrington was lately a Part) which exempts them from the Said Taxes, & that by their Refusal the Town of Barrington
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Barrington, Rhode Island1898 · page 454Read the page →
Read the text
free liberty or allowance from the town to keep a ferry in Barrington aforesaid at ye place called and known by the name of Toogood's or Kelley's Ferry and to carry horse and men or any kind of wares from off Barrington Shore without any let, denyals, molestation or Disturbance of from or by ye said town of Barrington for ye space of seven years from and after ye twenty-first day of May last past according to ye tenure, true intent and meaning of ye vote of ye Town
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
Barrington, 1822 to 1903
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1822, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Barrington’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1830 counted 1,854 people here.
How does Barrington rank for history?
Barrington is more historic than 70% 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.
What is on the National Register in Barrington?
One place: the Spicer-Millard House (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Barrington?
18% of Barrington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
2006
