Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1820.
Bolton dates its founding to 1792 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bolton is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Bolton’s 123 sits above most of its state (78% of New York towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Bolton’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1830 and 1840, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bolton’s Wikipedia page.
Bolton had its own post office from 1816 to 1954. 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Bolton.
The village of Bolton was formed from part of the town of Thurman in 1799. Bolton lost some of its territory as three new towns were created in the county.
This village is named after Robert “Bob” Bolton, who moved there in 1788 with his wife Margaret.
The Cadet was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The Gates Homestead was added in 2010.
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.
Born hereErskine Henry Bronson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveTongue Mountain from Green Island, Lake George, N. Y
In the archiveWhite House Cabin, Bolton Landing, New York2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2026Gates Homestead
2024Bolton Central School Cupola
2022Worcester Lunch Car diner in Bolton Landing NY
2022Muzeum Marcelli Sembrich-Kochańskiej w dawnym Studio …
2012Bolton Landing Paulding Statue
2010Ridin Hy Ranch Main Entrance
2010Castle In The Clouds
2009NY 9N Bolton Landing
2009Bolton New York
2008Church in Bolton Landing NY
2008Bolton LandingEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bolton. 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 Bolton.
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 Bolton’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1792, according to Wikidata. Bolton’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1820 counted 1,087 people here.
Bolton is more historic than 89% 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Sagamore Hotel Complex (listed 1983, the first). 25 historic buildings in all.
22% of Bolton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (15), the National Register of Historic Places (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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