Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #625 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1830.
Colden dates its founding to 1827 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colden is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #625 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Colden’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Colden’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveColden (Village); Colden (Township); Colden Business Directory
In the archiveColden (Township)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colden. 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 Colden.
From Wikipedia’s history of Colden.
The town of Colden was organized April 2, 1827, from part of the town of Holland. One of the first settlers was Richard Buffum from Rhode Island. He purchased 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) from the Holland Land Company.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Colden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The ambition and strife of Colden and Delancey gave rise to the new instruction, which arrived here without any previous intimation, for the ministry had eluded the vigilance of the agent, who so late as the 11th of June, informed the speaker, that the representations of the lords of trade, on which it was undoubtedly founded, was still unproceeded upon in council.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. 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 Colden’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 464 and 3,323 people in every census since 1830.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colden’s Wikipedia page.
Colden’s post office has been open since 1830. Another post office, Buffum's Mills, 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 1827, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Colden’s post office opened in 1830, and the census of 1830 counted 464 people here.
Colden is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #625 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.
20% of Colden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (6), 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.
1880
2021
2021
2006