Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Croghan

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Croghan

Croghan’s post office opened in 1842, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1850.

1842first post office
2on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Croghan’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Croghan began

When was Croghan founded?

1842

The Croghan post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,135 in 18502020 census: 639184 years
Founding year: the first Croghan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Croghan’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Croghan’s homes were built before 1938.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1890 to 1909, drew every building in Croghan.Deep rootsA post office since 1842: 184 years of Croghan.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Croghan’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCroghan 1: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Croghan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Croghan.

Read it all →

The southwestern part of the town was the locale of an ill-fated colony of refugees from the French Revolution. The settlements were disbanded by 1814. Modern settlement began circa 1830.

The town was formed in 1841 from the towns of Watson and Diana. In 1848, part of the town was used to help form New Bremen.

Theodore B. Basselin played a large part in Croghan's history. Mr. Basselin came to America and settled in Croghan, where he became the town's first millionaire due to his successful logging business. He was one of the town's top employers in his day.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Every building

Croghan, building by building, 1890–1909

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Croghan fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Croghan, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Croghan 1Date?Croghan 1
Today3 recent
Croghan Island Mill2022Croghan Island MillWishys2010WishysBasselin House2004Basselin House
On the map

Croghan on the map, 1911 to 1966

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

Croghan on the 1911 USGS mapCroghan on the 1966 USGS map1911Lowville 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 Croghan.

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.

Croghan 1
Retake this viewCroghan 1

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Croghan

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Croghan, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001850190019502000Peak: 3,527

Between 1,135 and 3,527 people in every census since 1850.

17 censuses, 1850–2010.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Croghan

Nobody well known was born in Croghan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John CarpenterAmerican filmmaker, composer and actor · b. 1948
Tom HomanAmerican law enforcement officer and immigratio… · b. 1961
Caleb LyonAmerican politician · b. 1822
George E. SpencerAmerican politician · b. 1836
J
Justus DoolittleAmerican missionary to China · b. 1824
Edward A. Stevenson11th Governor of Idaho Territory · b. 1831

Questions about Croghan’s history

What year was Croghan founded?

The Croghan post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.