The story
Read it all →How Castile came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Castile.
The Town of Castile was established in 1821 from part of the Town of Perry.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Epworth Hall · Photo: Pubdog · Public domainA+History
History · Castile
Castile’s post office opened in 1821, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #110 of 758 in New York. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 76 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1830.
1821first post office
3on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
4famous people
Quick answers
How Castile began
When was Castile founded?
1821
The Castile post office opened in 1821, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Silver Lake (1823), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,259 in 18302020 census: 2,711205 years
How historic is Castile?
A+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Castile post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Castile’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Castile is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #110 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Castile’s overall grade.
Founding era1821, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194039.2% of homes (±8.0) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register3 listings, 78 historic buildings, 288 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 86%
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 Castile’s 288 sits above most of its state (86% of New York towns have fewer) while its 78 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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 Castile’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A historic districtThe Silver Lake Institute Historic District takes in 76 historic buildings.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Castile, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19053 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1972. Watch Castile change.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1912, drew every building in Castile.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
3 listings protect 78 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
78
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Silver Lake Institute Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Colonial Revival2
Queen Anne Style1
Bungalow1
Eastlake1
Silver Lake Institute Vernacular1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Silver Lake Institute Historic DistrictQueen Anne Style
Epworth HallLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
All 3 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Castile’s post office has been open since 1821. Another post office, Silver Lake, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Castile
Silver Lake
Silver Lake
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Castile Estates Mobile Home ParkChaceFairviewIsman Mobile Home ParkSilver Lake
Gone or out of use
Castile High SchoolschoolCastile SanitariumhospitalFive Cornerslocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Castile
GraceHope
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Castile on the map, 1905 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Castile. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Portage sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Castile.
Timeline
Castile, 1821 to 1925
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1821Post officeThe Castile post office opens
- 1823Post officeThe Silver Lake post office opens
- 1836
Born hereWilliam B. Powell is born here - 1838Born hereAthelston Gaston is born here
- 1840
Born hereRobert J C Whaley is born here - 1847Post officeThe Silver Lake post office closes
- 1850
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - New York - Wyoming County - ED 61-12, ED … - 1864
In the archiveJabez Greene (The Story, 1925) - 20th century
- 1905
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1906
In the archiveBrookside, home of Dr. Cordelia A. Greene in Castile, New York (The Art of Keeping Well, … - 1906Born hereJulia Boyer Reinstein is born here
- 1925
In the archiveBrookside, home of Dr. Cordelia A. Greene in Castile, New York (The Story, 1925) - 1925Post officeThe Silver Lake post office opens
By decade
Castile, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1850s–1860s2 items
1900s–1920s3 items
19251930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumToday1 recent
2010Every building
Castile, building by building, 1886–1912
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - New York - Wyoming County - ED 61-12, ED 61-13, ED 61-14, ED 61-15, ED …, 1850
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Castile’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Castile, census by census
Between 1,996 and 3,156 people in every census since 1830.
19 censuses, 1830–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Castile’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →4 famous people were born in Castile
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Help out
Finish Castile’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Castile’s history
What year was Castile founded?
The Castile post office opened in 1821, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Castile rank for history?
Castile is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #110 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.
What is on the National Register in Castile?
Three places: the Silver Lake Institute Historic District (listed 1985), the Epworth Hall (2000) and the Orator F. Woodward Cottage (2016).
How old are the homes in Castile?
39% of Castile’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1957.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 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.