The Barton post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Factoryville (1822), North Barton (1829) and Bingham's Mills (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 972 in 18302020 census: 8,609199 years
How historic is Barton?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Barton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Barton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barton is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #329 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Barton’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 Barton’s 9.5 sits near the middle of its state (45% of New York towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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 (±5.0 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 Barton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Barton’s post office has been open since 1827. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Factoryville
1822–1890
Barton
1827–today
North Barton
1829–1904
Waverly
1850–today
Bingham's Mills
1870–1881
Lockwood
1881–today
Reniff
1882–1902
Glencairn
1894–1903
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar Park TerraceEast WaverlyEllistownGlencairnLockwoodMaple Lane Mobile Home ParkNorth BartonNorth WaverlyPark TerraceReniffWaverly
Gone or out of use
Barton Gravel Pitmine
13cemeteries and burying grounds inside Barton
Barton CenterBarton Methodist ChurchEmory ChapelFactoryvilleForest HomeGlenwoodHalsey ValleyLockwoodNorth BartonOak HillProspect HillSaint James Roman CatholicTallmadge Hill
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Barton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barton’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The Sullivan Expedition of 1779 passed through this region. The first settlers arrived circa 1791.
The Town of Barton was established in 1824 from the town of Tioga. The region was already settled in 1796 when John Shepard bought 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) by the current location of Waverly. It is reported that the town was named after Belva Ann Lockwood of Royalton, New York (near Lockport), one of the first female lawyers in the country, the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court and the first woman to be on an official ballot running for president of the US in 1884 and 1888. But, see the town's own webpage for a better explanation of the history of the town name.[1]
The Barton post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Barton rank for history?
Barton is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #329 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 Barton?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the US Post Office-Waverly (listed 1989, the first), and 1 site. 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Barton?
31% of Barton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
