Clarkstown dates to 1791, and 17 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #520 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Clarkstown was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 17 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 54 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clarkstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clarkstown is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #520 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 Clarkstown’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 Clarkstown’s 11.3 sits near the middle of its state (48% of New York towns have fewer) while its 98 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1791.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Clarkstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Clarkstown was created in 1791 from the town of Haverstraw in Orange County, before Rockland County was formed.
In 1994, Clarkstown was involved in litigation that challenged a town ordinance, that required all waste picked up in the town to be sorted for recyclables at a specific privately operated facility. The case made it to the United States Supreme Court in C&A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, in which the ordinance was held unconstitutional.
This seems, however, to have hastened the incorporation of Nyack, for very shortly thereafter, namely, on February 27th 1883, the village of Nyack was incorporated, its northern limit being the Clarkstown line and southern line of the incorporated village of Upper Nyack, and its southern limit the northern line of the incorporated village of South Nyack, containing a territory of about one square mile, and a resident population of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
time they shall think proper to keep a house thereon, for the use of a schoolhouse only, all and Singular, the lot of land and premises situate laying and being in the town of Clarkstown ” Then follows the description, which is given in feet, as follows: “ Beginning at the S. E. corner of the lot thence West along the public road 1 1 8.8 feet, thence North 82.5 feet, thence East 105.6 feet, thence South
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
Clarkstown, 1784 to 1981
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1791, according to Wikidata. Clarkstown’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1820 counted 1,808 people here.
How does Clarkstown rank for history?
Clarkstown is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #520 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 Clarkstown?
17 listings: 11 buildings, among them the Terneur-Hutton House (listed 1973, the first), 3 historic districts, the Rockland County Courthouse and Dutch Gardens, the Van Houten's Landing Historic District and the Tallman-Budke and Vanderbilt-Budke-Traphagen Houses, with 54 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 98 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Clarkstown?
8% of Clarkstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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.
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