Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #743 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Deerfield was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1800.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deerfield is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #743 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 Deerfield’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.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Deerfield’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew 6-fold.
22 censuses, 1800–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Deerfield’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Deerfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Deerfield.
From Wikipedia’s history of Deerfield.
In Walter D. Edmonds' 1936 novel "Drums Along the Mohawk" and the 1939 film of the same name, the story portrays settlers of the New York frontier in the 1700s. The main protagonists (played in the film by Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) leave their luxurious home to build a small frontier farm in Deerfield in the Mohawk Valley.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Deerfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the year 1744, the war again commenced between France and Great Britain, and the Indians again became the allies of France. From 1725 to 1745 there were scarcely any Indian depredations in Deerfield or its vicinity. In 1745 there were several skirmishes with the Indians in various parts of the country, but none within the borders of Deerfield, or in which her citizens were engaged.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
from Hatfield at the head of about one hundred and sixty militia-men, to attack a large Indian force stationed at the Great Falls, so called, on Connecticut River, in that part of Deerfield which is now Gill. The Indians had a large settlement there, as it was a famous resort for salmon, bass, and shad. They had at that time a force there of several hundred men. Captain Turner was from Boston, and he commanded the
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.
Born hereJohn Charles Haines is born here
Born hereJustus H. Rathbone is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWriters, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, North Gage, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Deerfield is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #743 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.
6% of Deerfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (2), 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), 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.
2018
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