The story
Read it all →How Bethany came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Bethany.
The area was first settled circa 1803. The town of Bethany was formed in 1812 from a partition of the town of Batavia.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Bethany
Bethany’s post office opened in 1816, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1820.
1816first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Bethany began
When was Bethany founded?
1816
The Bethany post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Linden (1832) and West Bethany (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,691 in 18202020 census: 1,780210 years
How historic is Bethany?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bethany post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bethany’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bethany is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bethany’s overall grade.
Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194032.0% of homes (±7.0) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical NY town 12.3 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 67%
NewerOlder
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 Bethany’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 C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.0 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 Bethany’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bethany are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bethany, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,374 in 1830; 1,765 people lived here in 2010.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1978. Watch Bethany change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Bethany’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethany’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Bethany had its own post office from 1816 to 1901. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bethany
East Bethany
Linden
West Bethany
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bethany CenterEast BethanyLindenLittle CanadaSuicide CornersWest Bethany
Gone or out of use
Genesee County HomebuildingGenesee InfirmaryhospitalSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 9school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bethany
BethanyEast BethanyMaple LawnPutnamTransitWest BethanyWest Bethany Rural
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
People over time
Bethany, census by census
Peaked at 2,374 in 1830; 1,765 people lived here in 2010.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bethany’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Bethany, 1816 to 1935
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1816Post officeThe Bethany post office opens
- 1825Post officeThe East Bethany post office opens
- 1830CensusPopulation peaks at 2,374
- 1832Post officeThe Linden post office opens
- 1833Born hereJohn E. Bennett is born here
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Bethany post office closes
- 1904
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1935Post officeThe Linden post office closes
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Bethany on the map, 1904 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bethany. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Batavia sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bethany.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Bethany’s history
What year was Bethany founded?
The Bethany post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bethany rank for history?
Bethany is more historic than 67% 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.
How old are the homes in Bethany?
32% of Bethany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1962.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 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.