Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives De Kalb’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, De Kalb is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of De Kalb’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 De Kalb’s 4.8 sits below most of its state (34% 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 (±9.3 points). Two sources give 1803.
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 →
What stands out about De Kalb’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Settlement began in June 1803, when the first settlement party arrived, led by Judge William Cooper of Cooperstown, New York.
The town was organized in 1806 from the town of Oswegatchie. DeKalb was one of the original ten towns of the county. In 1825, the part of DeKalb north west of Beaver Creek was taken to be part of the Town of DePeyster. In 1830, the Southeastern corner of DeKalb was made part of the Town of Hermon.
St. Regis and St. François Native Americans used to frequently visit the settlement on hunting expeditions.
In 1803, according to Wikidata. De Kalb’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1820 counted 709 people here.
How does De Kalb rank for history?
De Kalb 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 De Kalb?
One place: the Methodist Episcopal Church of East DeKalb (listed 1998).
How old are the homes in De Kalb?
45% of De Kalb’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (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.
2025
