Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clymer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clymer is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clymer’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 Clymer’s 9.2 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±9.0 points). Two sources give 1820.
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 Clymer’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Settlement began circa 1820. The town of Clymer was established in 1821 from a division of the town of Chautauqua. In 1824, a division of Clymer was made to form the new town of Mina and again in 1829 to form the town of French Creek. In 1915, the population of Clymer was 1,341.
Neckers Co., a general store, has occupied the northwest corner of the main intersection in town since 1910, passing through four generations of the Neckers family.
The Clymer District School No. 5 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
On or about September 24, 2012, Clymer Central School superintendent Keith Reed Jr. was shot to death by an apparent murderer on his property near Clymer.
Passages that mention Clymer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 140Read the page →
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was Clymer, organized February 9, 1821, and given the name of the patriotic Pennsylvanian, George Clymer, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The town of Mina was set off from Clymer in 1824; and French Creek in 1829, leaving Clymer an area of 21,985 acres, bounded on the north by Sherman, east by Harmony, west by French Creek, south by
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sherman was settled with unusual rapidity. The settlement of French Creek was commenced in 1812; of Mina, about 1815 ; of Clymer, in 1820; and of Sherman, in 1823. The Company's books show a greater number of original purchasers of lands in Sherman from 1825 to 1828, than in any other town of equal size in the county, during an equal period of time. Only a part of these purchasers are named in the subjoined list. The names of many of the early and temporary settlers are omitted.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 87Read the page →
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The first to come were Hollanders. They came to the town of Clymer. About the year 1844 was the beginning of their settlement in that town, and now a large percentage of its population are of Holland stock. These citizens retain in a marked degree the characteristics, manners and customs of the parent country.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York1894 · page 967Read the page →
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One of the early and industrious pioneers of Clymer was Peter Jaquins, 'who was a soldier in the war of 181 2, and participated in the battle at Queenstown, Canada. He removed from Guilford, Clienango county, to Cattaraugus comity in 1820, in 1824 bouglit lot 42 in Clymer, and in 1825 made his home here, and erected the first saw and gristuiills in the town.
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
Clymer, 1820 to 1905
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1820, according to Wikidata. Clymer’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1830 counted 567 people here.
How does Clymer rank for history?
Clymer is more historic than 86% 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.
What is on the National Register in Clymer?
One place: the Clymer District School No. 5 (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Clymer?
38% of Clymer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (2), 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), 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.
1867
