Founding year: the first Churchville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Churchville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Churchville is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Churchville’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 Churchville’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1852.
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 Churchville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1806, Samuel Church purchased the land that would become Churchville in what was then known as West Pulteney. The village was incorporated on September 21, 1852, and named after Samuel Church, who owned all the land within the village limits.
The village expanded following the conclusion of the War of 1812 —which Samuel Church himself fought in— hastened by the connection of the Tonawanda railroad in 1837.
Passages that mention Churchville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve1851 · page 501Read the page →
Read the text
Samuel Church, a brother of Elihu, was the founder of settlement at Churchville, where he built the first saw mill in town, in 1808, and a grist mill in 1811. He was a Captain of the first militia company organized in Riga ; was upon the frontier in the war of 1812, and participated with his command in the sortie of Fort Erie. He died in 1850, in Chenango county, aged 82 years. His surviving sons are : — Rev. Samuel C. Church, of Medina, and Rev, Jared Church, of Tennessee; a daughter became the wife of the Rev.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
The Churchville post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1852.
How does Churchville rank for history?
Churchville is more historic than 51% 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.
How old are the homes in Churchville?
15% of Churchville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 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.
