Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #721 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Beekmantown was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1820.
The Beekmantown post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, East Beekmantown (1853), Point Au Rock (1879) and West Beekmantown (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beekmantown is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #721 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Beekmantown’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Beekmantown’s history is told.
Beekmantown had its own post office from 1822 to 1902. 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).
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beekmantown’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Beekmantown.
The land was first settled circa 1783. The town was formed in 1820 from the town of Plattsburgh. Part of Beekmantown was lost in 1854 when the town of Dannemora was established.
During the War of 1812, some skirmishes took place in the town, in 1814.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBeekmantown Corners (Village); Beekmantown Subscriber's Business Directory; Elsinore Subs…
Born hereRobert John Kirby is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beekmantown. 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 Beekmantown.
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 Beekmantown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Beekmantown post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Beekmantown is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #721 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.
4% of Beekmantown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (4), 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) 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.
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