On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookfield is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brookfield’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 Brookfield’s 14.0 sits near the middle of its state (51% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1791.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points).
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 →
What stands out about Brookfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
School Number 2schoolSchool Number 28schoolUnion SchoolschoolWaterman Schoolschool
17cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brookfield
Brookfield RuralClarkeCole HillCrumbFaulknerGilesGortonHoxieLambLeonardsvilleMottNorth BrookfieldQuaker HillSouth Brookfield Memorial Park andWatermanWelchWest Edmeston
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Brookfield, building by building, 1892–1910
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1892Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Brookfield, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brookfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brookfield is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 2,247 at the 2020 census, down from 2,545 in 2010. The town is located in the southeastern part of Madison County. The county agricultural fair is held here every year.
Brookfield was established in 1791. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,545 to 2,247 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Brookfield, 1900–1904
Passages that mention Brookfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Madison county, state of New York1900 · page 195Read the page →
Read the text
South Brookfield, or "Babcocks Mills," as sometimes called, is situated in the south part of the town on Beaver Creek. The Mills — a grist mill and saw mill — were built up by the Babcocks in the early settlement of the country.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Letters of Thackeray to Mrs. Brookfield1904 · page 130Read the page →
Read the text
sorted with any Cambridge men; and so I mentioned Kinglake and one Brookfield of whom I saw a good deal. He was surprised at this, as he heard Brookfield was so violent a Puseyite as to be just on the point of going to Rome. He can’t walk, having paralysis in his legs, but he preaches every Sunday, he says, being hoisted into his pulpit before service and waiting there whilst his curate reads down below.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Madison county, state of New York1900 · page 421Read the page →
Read the text
The nearest grist mill was at Brookfield, but owing to the roughness of the country between, no roads having been opened in that direction, this mill did not supply them.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Brookfield, 1791 to 1914
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1791, according to Wikidata. Brookfield’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1820 counted 4,240 people here.
How does Brookfield rank for history?
Brookfield is more historic than 86% 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.
What is on the National Register in Brookfield?
One place: the Wheeler House Complex (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Brookfield?
31% of Brookfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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