Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1810.
History grade
What drives Denmark’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Denmark is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #518 of 758 in New York. 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 Denmark’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 Denmark’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 (±7.4 points). Two sources give 1800.
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 Denmark’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Briggs CornerCastorlandClark CornersCopenhagenDeer River
Gone or out of use
School Number 12schoolSchool Number 13schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 8schoolSchool Number 9school
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Denmark
BentFairviewHillsidePlankSwinburne
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Denmark, 1800 to 1902
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Denmark yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Denmark is a town in Lewis County, New York, United States, named after the Kingdom of Denmark in northern Europe. The population was 2,626 at the 2020 census, down from 2,860 at the 2010 census. The town is on the northwestern border of Lewis County and lies east of Watertown.
Denmark was established in 1800. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,860 to 2,626 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Denmark, 1785–1883
Passages that mention Denmark, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Lewis County, New York1883 · page 189Read the page →
Read the text
The first school in Copenhagen, was taught by Tyrannus A. Wright, and the first school house in town was built near the inn of Freedom Wright, in Denmark village. The first school commissioners were Lewis Graves, Charles Wright, Jr., and Stephen Parsons ; and the first school inspectors were John Canfield,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark.1785 · page 535Read the page →
Read the text
of Rofkild, we continued our journey, and patted the night at Ringfted, a fmall, but neat, town, fituated almoft in the center of the ifland ; it is faid by fome antiquaries to have been built by Sigurd Ring, king of Denmark, who reigned in the 7 th century ; but this notion feems merely founded on the umilarity of the name Ring. The church, which is efteemed the moil antient Chriftian temple in Denmark, is a brick building, with two low fquare towers. Within, feveral Danifli kings
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Lewis County, New York1883 · page 197Read the page →
Read the text
vations. In 1805, he built a framed barn, and in 1809, a house, and finished paying for his farm in 18 15. Upon the organization of the town of Denmark, in 1807, he was chosen one of the commissioners of highways, which office he held many years. In 18 12, when war with England was declared, he was Lieutenant of a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark.1785 · page 537Read the page →
Read the text
Odenfee is the feat of a bifhop, which was founded by Harald Blaatand in 980, and is the richeft in Denmark next to Copenhagen. It has a fchool, endowed by the celebrated Margaret of Valdemar, in which a certain number of fcholars, from fix to fixteen years of age, are inftru&ed gratis ; they are inftructed gratis : they live and board in the town, and each receives a yearly penfion ; other fcholarfliips have been alfo founded by private perfons. The whole number amounted
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.
In 1800, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Denmark’s post office opened in 1810, and the census of 1820 counted 1,745 people here.
How does Denmark rank for history?
Denmark is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #518 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.
How old are the homes in Denmark?
41% of Denmark’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1965.
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), 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.
2011
