Chili’s post office opened in 1822, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #645 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Chili was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1830.
The Chili post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, South Chili (1825), West Chili (1833) and Clifton (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,010 in 18302020 census: 29,123204 years
How historic is Chili?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Chili post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Chili’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chili is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #645 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chili’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 Chili’s 2.1 sits below most of its state (25% of New York towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. 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 Chili’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Chili had its own post office from 1822 to 1953. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Chili
1822–1953
South Chili
1825–1849
North Chili
1829–today
West Chili
1833–1833
Clifton
1849–1976
Chili Station
1876–1922
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrookdaleChili CenterCliftonEvergreen Mobile Home ParkGenesee JunctionMaplewoodMile of WoodsNorth ChiliSeveranceSouth ChiliWest ChiliWhites
Gone or out of use
Rochester Drive-InlocaleSaint Felicia ChurchchurchSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 7school
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chili
Buckbee RuralChili Rural Cemetery Number 3CliftonFellowsGrove PlaceNorth Chili RuralPresbyterianSaint Pius Tenth
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Chili’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chili’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The Chili area was once the hunting ground of the Seneca people. The first white settler was Captain Joseph Morgan, who purchased land from Peter Sheffer of neighboring Wheatland.
The area of Chili became part of the newly formed town of Northampton. With the formation of Monroe County the area became part of the town of Riga before splitting off into its own Town of Chili on February 22, 1822.
Chili's etymology is disputed. Two popular theories are that it was named after the country of Chile, which was striving for independence at the time, or after the Chiliast faith embraced by some of the early settlers of South Chili.
The Chili Mills Conservation Area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The Chili post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Chili rank for history?
Chili is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #645 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 Chili?
One place: the Chili Mills Conservation Area (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Chili?
6% of Chili’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1977.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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