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B+History
History · Conklin

Conklin’s post office opened in 1826, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns · #556 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Conklin Town Hall. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1830.

1826first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Conklin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Conklin began

When was Conklin founded?

1826

The Conklin post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Conklin Center (1851), Conklin Station (1870) and Conkling Forks (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 908 in 18302020 census: 5,008200 years

How historic is Conklin?

B+

More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Conklin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Conklin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Conklin is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #556 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Conklin’s overall grade.
Founding era1826, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194017.1% of homes (±6.7) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 2.0 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 66%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 27%

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 Conklin’s 2.0 sits below most of its state (25% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Conklin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Conklin, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew 6-fold.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1961. Watch Conklin change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Conklin had its own post office from 1826 to 1857. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Conklin
1826–1857
Corbettsville
1839–today
Conklin Center
1851–1905
Conklin Station
1870–1894
Conkling Forks
1873–1902
Conklin
1894–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Blue Ridge Mobile Home ParkConklin CenterConklin ForksConklin StationCorbettsvilleFountain Blue Mobile Home ParkPine Manor
Gone or out of use
School Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolTreadwell Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Conklin
ConklinCorbettsvilleFinch FamilyLevee FamilyMethodist ChurchTemple Israel Riverside

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Conklin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Conklin’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFamily Burying Ground; The Old Homestea…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Conklin, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,00018501900195020002,232 in 1850Low: 796

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew 6-fold.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Conklin’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Conklin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Conklin.

Read it all →

The area was first settled around 1788. The Town of Conklin was established in 1824 from the town of Chenango by Nicholas Conklin (1782–1858). The town exchanged territories with adjacent towns before establishing its modern boundaries. In 1831, part of Conklin was used to form the town of Windsor, but Conklin received territory from Windsor in 1851. Another part of Conklin was used in 1859 to form the town of Kirkwood.

Alpheus Corby, a Conklin resident, built a castle-like structure as his home in 1900. The building is the current town hall.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Conklin, 1826 to 1990

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Post officeThe Conklin post office opens
  3. 1835Born hereAnsel Watrous is born here
  4. 1838Born hereAmos J. Cummings is born here
  5. 1839Post officeThe Corbettsville post office opens
  6. 1840Born hereJerome Anthony Watrous is born here
  7. 1851Post officeThe Conklin Center post office opens
  8. 1857Born hereJim Whitney is born here
  9. 1857Post officeThe Conklin post office closes
  10. 1876In the archiveFamily Burying Ground; The Old Homestead, Res. of Edwin Lawrence, Conklin TP Broome Co., …
  11. 1890In the archiveSusquehanna River near Conklin, N.Y
  12. 20th century
  13. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1905Post officeThe Conklin Center post office closes
  15. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 6,265
By decade

Conklin, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1890s4 items
Family Burying Ground; The Old Homestead, Res. of Edwin Lawrence, Conklin TP Broome Co., N.Y.; Res. of A. Stanley Saxen…1876Family Burying Ground; The Old Homestead, Res. of Edw…Kirkwood P.O., Kirkwood TP; Conklin Forks, Conklin TP; Riverside P.O., Kirkwood TP (Villages); Map of Kirkwood Township…1876Kirkwood P.O., Kirkwood TP; Conklin Forks, Conklin TP…MapRes. of Julius S. Corbett, Corbettsville, Broome Co., N.Y; Res. of Abner Chapman, Conklin, Broome Co., N.Y; Res. of S.P…1876Res. of Julius S. Corbett, Corbettsville, Broome Co.,…Susquehanna River near Conklin, N.Y1890Susquehanna River near Conklin, N.Y
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Conklin, NY Volunteer Fire Department, April 20252025Conklin, NY Volunteer Fire Department, April 2025Hurricane-Tropical Storm - Conklin, N. Y. , September 14, 2011 -- Damages after remnants of Tropical Storm Lee passed t…2011Hurricane-Tropical Storm - Conklin, N. Y. , September…
On the map

Conklin on the map, 1904 to 1961

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Conklin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Conklin on the 1904 USGS mapConklin on the 1937 USGS mapConklin on the 1942 USGS mapConklin on the 1961 USGS map1904Binghamton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Conklin.

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.

Family Burying Ground; The Old Homestead, Res. of Edwin Lawrence, Conklin TP Broome Co., N.Y.; Res. of A. Stanley Saxen…
Retake this viewFamily Burying Ground; The Old Homestead, Res. of Edwin Lawrence, Conklin TP Broome Co., N.Y.; Res. of A. Stanley Saxen…, 1876

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Conklin’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Conklin

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Conklin Town Hall
Conklin Town Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Gothic Revival1
Conklin Town HallLate Gothic Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Conklin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Amos J. CummingsUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient, po… · b. 1838
Jim WhitneyAmerican baseball player · b. 1857
Jerome Anthony WatrousAmerican politician · b. 1840
A
Ansel WatrousAmerican historian · b. 1835
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

KirkwoodIts storyCBinghamton1 historic placeBBinghamton35 historic placesA+

Questions about Conklin’s history

What year was Conklin founded?

The Conklin post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Conklin rank for history?

Conklin is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #556 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.

What is on the National Register in Conklin?

One place: the Conklin Town Hall (listed 2006).

How old are the homes in Conklin?

17% of Conklin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), 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) 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.