Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #648 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1820.
Cairo dates its founding to 1803 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cairo is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #648 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 Cairo’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: 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.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew 4-fold.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cairo’s Wikipedia page.
Cairo’s post office has been open since 1804. Two 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereThurlow Weed is born here
Born hereCharles H. Porter is born here
In the archiveHuntley's DrugsFrom Wikipedia’s history of Cairo.
The first European-American settler arrived around 1772, but many new families moved in after the American Revolution. They were coming west from New England.
In 1803, the town was formed from the towns of Catskill, Coxsackie, and Durham. First known as "Canton", the town was renamed in 1808 to "Cairo".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1976Huntley's Drugs
1976Huntley's Drugs
1977Bar at Emerald Isle Hotel, South
1977Broken Wheel Ranch Resort, Round Top, New York
1977Emerald Isle Hotel, Route 23-B, South
1977Emerald Isle Hotel, Route 23-B, South
1977Emerald Isle Hotel, Route 23-B, South
1977Love Star Theater
1977Pickwick Lodge, Round Top, New York
1977Round Top Hotel, Round Top, New YorkFire 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 sheet.
1915Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Cairo’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1803, according to Wikidata. Cairo’s post office opened in 1804, and the census of 1820 counted 2,353 people here.
Cairo is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #648 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.
17% of Cairo’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 1973.
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 (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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