The story
Read it all →How Colchester came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Colchester.
Colchester was formed from part of the town of Middletown in 1792. It was named after Colchester, Connecticut.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Colchester
17% of Colchester’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1820.
3on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Quick answers
Where Colchester’s name came from
How did Colchester get its name?
Colchester was named after Colchester, Connecticut.
How historic is Colchester?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Colchester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colchester is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Colchester’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194016.9% of homes (±6.0) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 23.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 73%
NewerOlder
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 Colchester’s 23.4 sits near the middle of its state (58% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Colchester’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Downsville
Butternut Grove
Shinhopple
Horton
Cooks Falls
Gregorytown
Corbett
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Butternut GroveCooks FallsCorbettDownsvilleGregorytownHortonShinhopple
Gone or out of use
Downsville AirportairportMahoney Quarrymine
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Colchester
Cooks FallsGregorytownHortonPaigeWilson Hollow
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Colchester’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colchester’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Colchester, census by census
Peaked at 3,193 in 1910; 1,782 people lived here in 2020.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colchester’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Colchester in 1898
Passages that mention Colchester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Delaware County, New York1898 · page 568Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Colchester was originally organized April loth. 1792, and was carved out of the town of Middletowu, which had been organized March 81st, 1789, as a town of Ulster county. The territory of this town was taken from the towns of Rochester and Woodstock in Ulster county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Delaware County, New York1898 · page 310Read the page →
Read the text
THE town of Colchester was formed AjHil 1(», IT'.l'i, from tintown of Middletown, and iucluded the present town of Hancock and a portion of the town of Walton. It was then in the county of Ulster. In 1799 a part was annexed to the town of Walton. Hancock was taken oif in 18()(), and a part of Walton was annexed to Colchester in 1827. Since which last the boundaries of the town have remained unaltered. At the formation of the county of Delaware in 1797, Colchester was one of the
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
Colchester, 1797 to 1922
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1797
Born hereCharles Knapp is born here - 19th century
- 1849Post officeThe Downsville post office opens
- 1858
Born hereJames H. Davidson is born here - 1869
In the archiveColchester Business Directy.; Colchester (Township); Downsville (Village) - 1872Post officeThe Butternut Grove post office opens
- 1875
In the archiveColchester (Village); Hubbardsville (Village); Earlville Business Notices.; Earlville (Vi… - 1882Post officeThe Shinhopple post office opens
- 1899Post officeThe Butternut Grove post office closes
- 20th century
- 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 3,193
- 1922
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Colchester, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
On the map
Colchester on the map, 1922 to 1965
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colchester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Andes sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Colchester.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewColchester Business Directy.; Colchester (Township); Downsville (Village), 1869
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Colchester’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
3 historic places in Colchester
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1999
Downsville Covered Bridge
BuildingsDistrictsStructures
Architectural styles listings
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Late Victorian1
Downsville Covered BridgeStructure
Dundas CastleLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
Union Free SchoolLate Victorian
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Colchester
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Colchester’s history
How does Colchester rank for history?
Colchester is more historic than 73% 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 Colchester?
Three places: the Downsville Covered Bridge (listed 1999), the Dundas Castle (2001) and the Union Free School (2004).
How old are the homes in Colchester?
17% of Colchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1981.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (3), 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.