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History · Cato

Cato’s post office opened in 1816, and 58% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1810.

1816first post office
0on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cato’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cato began

When was Cato founded?

1816

The Cato post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,075 in 18102020 census: 517210 years
Founding year: the first Cato post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cato’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cato’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1954. Watch Cato change.Boom and bustPeaked at 4,021 in 1820; 2,445 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cato’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cato’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLand use plan for town of Cato: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Cato came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cato.

Read it all →

The town was in the Central New York Military Tract, reserved for veterans of the American Revolution. Settlers trickled in during the early 19th century. After the War of 1812, the population increased more quickly.

The town was formed in 1802 from part of the town of Aurelius. Cato was subsequently reduced in size when new towns were formed: Sterling in 1812, and in 1821 Conquest, Ira, and Victory. Part of the town of Ira was returned to Cato in 1824.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Cato on the map, 1902 to 1954

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cato. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cato on the 1902 USGS mapCato on the 1943 USGS mapCato on the 1954 USGS map1902Weedsport sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cato.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Cato, 1879–1889

Passages that mention Cato, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Cato, who was never sparing in his own praises, and thought boasting a natural attendant on great actions, is very pompous in his account of this exploit He says, '* That those who saw him charging the enemy, routing and pursuing them, declared, that Cato owed less to the people of Rome, than the p…
Plutarch's lives of Romulus, Lycurgus, Solon, Pericles, Cato, Pompey, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Demosthenes, Cicero, Mark Antony, Brutus, and others, and his comparisons. With notes, critical and historical1889 · page 176Read the page →
Read the text

Cato, who was never sparing in his own praises, and thought boasting a natural attendant on great actions, is very pompous in his account of this exploit He says, '* That those who saw him charging the enemy, routing and pursuing them, declared, that Cato owed less to the people of Rome, than the people of Rome owed to Cato ; and that the Consul Manius himself, coming hot from the fight, took him in his arms as he too came panting from

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There is a swamp in the south-west part which covers several hundred acres. There is less waste land in this town and Ira, the two northern, than in Cato and Conquest, the two southern towns of the old township of Cato; there is also less good land. The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam, mostly the…
History of Cayuga County, New York1879 · page 267Read the page →
Read the text

There is a swamp in the south-west part which covers several hundred acres. There is less waste land in this town and Ira, the two northern, than in Cato and Conquest, the two southern towns of the old township of Cato; there is also less good land. The soil is a sandy and gravelly loam, mostly the latter.

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

Cato, 1820 to 1983

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820CensusPopulation peaks at 4,021
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1978In the archiveLand use plan for town of Cato
  6. 1983Born hereRegan Smith is born here
By decade

Cato, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s1 item
Land use plan for town of Cato1978Land use plan for town of Cato
1980s–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 album
Today9 recent
Main Street Auto with a Double Rainbow2024Main Street Auto with a Double RainbowCato from East Main Street facing West2024Cato from East Main Street facing WestCato from East Main Street facing East2024Cato from East Main Street facing EastCatoNewYorkPioneerCemeteryHistoricalMarker2019CatoNewYorkPioneerCemeteryHistoricalMarkerNY370 East Sign2018NY370 East SignNY370 East2018NY370 EastNew Water Tower Winter 20172017New Water Tower Winter 2017Cato Water Tower2012Cato Water TowerUntitled photo2008Untitled photo
Every building

Cato, building by building, 1894–1911

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.

Cato fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn 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.

Land use plan for town of Cato
Retake this viewLand use plan for town of Cato, 1978

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cato’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cato, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5001850190019502000Peak: 4,021

Peaked at 4,021 in 1820; 2,445 people lived here in 2020.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cato’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Cato’s history

What year was Cato founded?

The Cato post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.