Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1910.
The Cold Brook post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Cold Brook’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cold Brook. 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 Cold Brook.
From Wikipedia’s history of Cold Brook.
The water power of Cold Brook encouraged settlers, who arrived after 1800. The 1857 Cold Brook Feed Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Cold Brook, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Cold Brook Methodism since its inception in 1825, has been associated with Herkimer, Russia, Newport and Norway Circuits, in 1871 it became the head of a c.rcuit and has remained that since that time. One hundred years ago the circuit extended from Schuyler on the south; Middleville on the east; Ohio on the north and Remsen on the west. Norway, Black Creek, Trenton, Newport and Osborn Hill were included in the appointments. The preachers which have been stationed at Cold Brook with the Presiding Elders and District Superintendents who have supervised the work here with their
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
I he building that has housed from year to year these Methodist wor¬ shipers in Cold Brook has needed repairs and new furnishings from time to time. In 1882 the church was repaired at a cost of $235. The organ was purchased in 1 883 for $ 1 20. In October, 1 890, the Ladies Aid Society bought two new stoves for the church. At this time the church was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
present school-house; the second one was about half way between Poland and Swezey Hill, a mile northeast of the other one. A third schoolhouse was built on Cold Brook street near where Arthur Sprague now lives. A frame house was built later nearly on the site of this last mentioned log house. The fiftii school-house was also on Cold Brook street. The sixth was built in 1868, on the site of the present commodious house. The old building was at first used as a part of the new one and a primary department was kept in a part of it in 1874.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. 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 Cold Brook’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.
Peaked at 413 in 1970; 250 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cold Brook’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Cold Brook itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Cold Brook post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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