Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives De Peyster’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, De Peyster is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of De Peyster’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 Peyster’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.4 points). Two sources give 1825.
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 De Peyster’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was established in 1825 from parts of the Towns of DeKalb and Oswegatchie. The town name was proposed to be "Stilwell" after prominent resident Smith Stilwell, but he declined on the grounds that "some one among the proprietors, might be willing to make the town a liberal present, for the privilege of giving it their name". Thus, a correspondence was opened with landowner Frederic de Peyster, whose name was ultimately chosen for the new town.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, East Road, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Depeyster
1827–today
East Road
1900–1905
18201920today
Gone or out of use
Fish Creek SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 9school
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside De Peyster
East RoadPurmort
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1825, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. De Peyster’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1830 counted 814 people here.
How does De Peyster rank for history?
De Peyster is more historic than 72% 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.
How old are the homes in De Peyster?
44% of De Peyster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1975.
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), 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.
