Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #415 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Trinity Church and the St. James' Church. Below: 25 old photos and papers from 1867 on and the census since 1820.
Constantia dates its founding to 1793 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Constantia is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #415 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Constantia’s 4.2 sits below most of its state (33% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Constantia’s post office has been open since 1813. Five other post offices 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).
3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1912FMIB 47355 Oneida Hatchery Interior, Constantia, 1912
1912FMIB 47356 Dam on Frederick Creek, Hatchery Water Sup…
1912FMIB 47357 Pike Perch Eggs in Jars Constantia, 1912
1912FMIB 47358 Black Bass Ponds Constantia, 1912
1912FMIB 47359 Scriba Creek, Constantia, 1912 Hatchery an…
1912FMIB 47360 Transferring Pike Perch from Pens for Stri…
1912FMIB 47361 Tubs for Carrying Pike Perch to Stripping …
1912FMIB 47362 Flood Surrounding Stripping House, Constan…
1912FMIB 47363 Hauling Trap Net with Pike Perch Constanti…
1912FMIB 47364 Hauling Trap Net with Pike Perch Constanti…
1912FMIB 47365 Taking Pike Perch Eggs Constantia, 1912
1912FMIB 47366 Dip Net Fishing at Night for Pike Perch Co…
1912FMIB 47367 Drying Dipnets Constantia, 1912
1913FMIB 47368 Night scapping for pike perch Scriba Creek…
1913FMIB 47369 Fishing with dip nets for pike perch, Scri…
1913FMIB 47371 Hauling trap net with pike perch Oneida La…
1913FMIB 47372 Stripping pike perch Constantia, N Y
1913FMIB 47373 Stirring pike perch eggs, Constantia, N Y
1913FMIB 47374 Pike Perch eggs in jars, Oneida Hatchery, …
1913FMIB 47375 Shipping pike perch eggs, Oneida Harchery,…Lost half of its people between 1870 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Constantia’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Constantia.
The town was first settled circa 1793 and was known then as "Rotterdam." Francis Adrian Vanderkemp and Marc Isambard Brunel were two of its citizens. The Town of Constantia was created from part of the Town of Mexico in 1808. In 1825, the town was reduced by the formation of the Town of Hastings, and was reduced again in 1839 to form the Town of West Monroe.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Constantia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
![In 1873, Mr. A. F. Goodenough began the publication of the Lakeside Neios at the village of Cleveland, in the town of Constantia. In 1874 he was succeeded by Mr. Charles R. King, who changed the name of the journal to The Lakeside Press. It is still published by ]Mr. King under that title, being a …](https://images.townratings.com/story/28923/bk-02c41c275913b893-l.jpg)
In 1873, Mr. A. F. Goodenough began the publication of the Lakeside Neios at the village of Cleveland, in the town of Constantia. In 1874 he was succeeded by Mr. Charles R. King, who changed the name of the journal to The Lakeside Press. It is still published by ]Mr. King under that title, being a vigorous, independent weekly, of twenty-eight columns, which indicates by it-s name its position on the shore of the beautiful Oneida lake.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
settlers into the village, and in 1834: a second store was erected by Augustus Marshall. At this time the town began to improve much more rapidly than before. The village of Constantia was incorporated by a special act passed May 25, 1836. The American iron company sold out in 1836 to the Oneida Lake furnace company, which consisted of Moses W. Lester, C. Woodbridge, J. Tucker, and others. In
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.
In the archiveConstantia (Township)
In the archiveFMIB 43095 Constantia HatcheryIn the archiveFMIB 47355 Oneida Hatchery Interior, Constantia, 1912No 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 Constantia’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.
Nobody well known was born in Constantia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1793, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Constantia’s post office opened in 1797, and the census of 1820 counted 767 people here.
Constantia is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #415 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.
Two places: the Trinity Church (listed 1982) and the St. James' Church (1996).
30% of Constantia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (26), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
1867
1898
1898
2010