Its Register listings are the Sunday Rock, the Zion Episcopal Church and Rectory and the Hepburn Library of Colton. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Colton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colton is more historic than 84% 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 Colton’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 Colton’s 21.5 sits near the middle of its state (57% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 points). Two sources give 1843.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Colton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first land patents were issued in 1776. The first settlement took place in March 1824 near Colton village, in the northern part of the town, by Abel Brown and his son, James Brown. Saw mills were established on the Raquette River, in addition to a starch factory built in 1844.
Colton was organized in 1843 from part of the town of Parishville. Additional land from Parishville was added to Colton in 1851, and Colton was increased in 1876 from territory taken from the town of Hopkinton.
The Zion Episcopal Church and Rectory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The Hepburn Library of Colton was added in 2012.
In 1843, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Colton’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1850 counted 506 people here.
How does Colton rank for history?
Colton is more historic than 84% 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 Colton?
Three places: the Sunday Rock (listed 2010), the Zion Episcopal Church and Rectory (2003) and the Hepburn Library of Colton (2012).
How old are the homes in Colton?
25% of Colton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (14), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2025
2025
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012