Founding year: the first Blasdell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Blasdell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blasdell is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #504 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Blasdell’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 Blasdell’s 11.8 sits near the middle of its state (48% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±11.0 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 Blasdell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community grew as a railroad town around the Erie Railroad. Blasdell was incorporated in 1898 as a village.
Wrestler Ilio DiPaolo was a longtime resident, before his death in 1995. In 1965 he opened an Italian restaurant on South Park Avenue. It is now run by his family.
Blasdell is one of two municipalities in Erie County to have a registered Conservative as its executive, the other being Newstead.
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 Blasdell post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Blasdell rank for history?
Blasdell is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #504 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 Blasdell?
45% of Blasdell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 (8), 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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