Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #453 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Clarendon Stone Store and the Stevens-Sommerfeldt House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1830.
Clarendon dates its founding to 1811 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarendon is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #453 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Clarendon’s 12.0 sits near the middle of its state (49% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 Clarendon’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.
19 censuses, 1830–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarendon’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarendon. 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 Clarendon.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clarendon.
The town was first settled circa 1811. The Town of Clarendon was created in 1820 from the town of Sweden, before Orleans County was established. It was originally known as "Farwell's Mills," a name derived from one of the first settlers, who arrived in 1810. Clarendon was once noted for its quarries and cement plants.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Clarendon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
IN the western part of the State of New York is the little County of Orleans, which was organized in 1824. In the southeastern portion of this county lies the Town of Clarendon, which was taken from the Town of Sweden February 23, 1821. The town was named by Eldredge Farwell, its first supervisor, in honor of Clarendon in Vermont. Clarendon is bounded on the north by Murray, on the east by Sweden, on the south by Byron and Bergen,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1850, Pettengill moved into the village of Clarendon, and built him a house opposite the church, and in the village he spent the remaining years of his life, and died of heart disease on the 14th of April, 1870, at the age of seventy-seven years, respected and honored by all who knew him. His eldest son, David N. Pettengill, held the office Ox justice of the peace for twenty-five years, and was postmaster for several years at Clarendon. In
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 hereJames T. Lewis is born here
BuiltStevens-Sommerfeldt House is built
Born hereCarl Akeley is born here
In the archiveClarendon (Village); Kenyonville (Village); Clarendon (Township); Clarendon Business Noti…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clarendon’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Clarendon’s post office has been open since 1822. Two 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1811, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clarendon’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1830 counted 2,025 people here.
Clarendon is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #453 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.
Two places: the Clarendon Stone Store (listed 2012) and the Stevens-Sommerfeldt House (2015).
18% of Clarendon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
Date?
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2010