Founding year: the first Bayville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bayville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bayville is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #724 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bayville’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 Bayville’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 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 Bayville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bayville incorporated as a village in 1919, during the "incorporated village movement," which allowed many larger estate owners on Long Island to establish political and security control over their domains.
Like many other Long Island communities, Bayville was first occupied by the Matinecock Indians and was known as Oak Neck and Pine Island. In 1658, Oyster Bay resident Daniel Whitehead purchased the land from the tribes. By 1745, the land was split among 23 men, who mainly grew asparagus. In 1859, Oak Neck was renamed Bayville and the first Methodist church was constructed west of what is now Merritt Lane. Multiple estates were built in the surrounding areas, and in 1898 a drawbridge was built, connecting Bayville and Mill Neck.
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 Bayville post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bayville rank for history?
Bayville is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #724 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 Bayville?
16% of Bayville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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