Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1820.
Carlisle dates its founding to 1807 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carlisle is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Carlisle’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: Wikipedia (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 Carlisle’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Carlisle’s Wikipedia page.
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 Carlisle.
The town of Carlisle was established in 1807 from the towns of Cobleskill and Sharon. According to William Roscoe's History of Scholarie County, the town was named after Carlisle Pierce, a resident of the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Carlisle, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Isaac Duren Lease The following is a copy of the lease of land to Carlisle Union Calvinistic Society: "This Indenture made this sixth day of April in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty-one, by and between Isaac Duren of Carlisle in the County of Middlesex, yeoman, of the one part and the Union Calvinistic Society of Carlisle, being a religious Society in said town of Carlisle duly organized under the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cyrus Nutting Deed "Know all men by these Presents that I Cyrus Nutting of Carlisle in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Cordwainer in consideration of nine dollars paid by the Inhabitants of the town of Carlisle in the County and Commonwealth aforesaid the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, do hereby give grant sell and convey unto the said Inhabitants of
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereEsther Lord McNeill is born here
Born hereDavid Taylor is born here
Born hereWalter L. Brown is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2022Crommie Road
2022Creative Imaging Photography on US-20
2022Charlie Rhoades Excavation
2022Carlisle Town Hall, Schoharie County, New York
2022Carlisle Presbyterian Church
2022Carlisle Fire Department
2022Building at 629 Crommie Road
2022Buffomatic
2022Buffo Storage
2022Barrack Zourie seen off US-20
2021Right-of-way off U.S. Route 20, Esperance, New York (…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carlisle. 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 Carlisle.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1807, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Carlisle’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1820 counted 1,583 people here.
Carlisle is more historic than 66% 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.
31% of Carlisle’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 1979.
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 (11), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
