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C+History
History · Depew

Depew’s post office opened in 1893, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #702 of 758 in New York. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1900.

1893first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Depew’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Depew began

When was Depew founded?

1893

The Depew post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 3,379 in 19002020 census: 15,178133 years

How historic is Depew?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Depew post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Depew’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Depew is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #702 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Depew’s overall grade.
Founding era1893, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.1% of homes (±3.4) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 7%

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 Depew’s 0.7 sits below most of its state (21% 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 C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Depew’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 22,158 in 1970; 15,178 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19055 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1982. Watch Depew change.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1911, drew every building in Depew.Old housesHalf of Depew’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · People over time

Depew, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 22,158

Peaked at 22,158 in 1970; 15,178 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

On the map

Depew on the map, 1905 to 1982

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

Depew on the 1905 USGS mapDepew on the 1948 USGS mapDepew on the 1950 USGS mapDepew on the 1965 USGS mapDepew on the 1982 USGS map1905Depew 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 Depew.

Every building

Depew, building by building, 1893–1911

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.

Depew fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 21893Sheet 2 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Depew came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Depew.

Read it all →

Part of the area that Depew currently inhabits was first settled in 1808 by Apollos Hitchcock, just north of Cayuga Creek on the main road that connected Buffalo (spelled as "Buffaloe" at the time) with Lancaster village in what was then Jukdowaageh (now Cheektowaga), which some say meant "land of the crab apple" or "land of fruit and flowers". The land had been bought and surveyed by the Holland Land Company.

The following is from Our County and Its People A Descriptive Work of Erie County New York, edited by Truman C. White:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Depew, 1884 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884In the archiveApollos Hitchcock
  3. 1894In the archivePlan for the Depew Improvement Company
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1936Born hereLucille Clifton is born here
  7. 1943In the archiveLaura Ozaya writing to her husband, a corporal stationed in Arkansas. 8d18349v
  8. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 22,158
By decade

Depew, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s4 items
Apollos Hitchcock1884Apollos HitchcockPlan for the Depew Improvement Company1894Plan for the Depew Improvement Company1898 bird's eye view of18981898 bird's eye view ofDepew, N.Y1898Depew, N.Y
1900s–1930snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1940s5 items
Laura Ozaya writing to her husband, a corporal stationed in Arkansas. 8d18349v1943Laura Ozaya writing to her husband, a corporal statio…Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent, in the bedroom of the home 8d16985v1943Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent, in…Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent, in the living room of the home 8d16986v1943Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent, in…Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent, in the living room of the home 8d16987v1943Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent, in…Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent,8d16980v1943Laura and Frank Czaya, a couple of Polish descent,8d1…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
CayugaHeightsElementary2012CayugaHeightsElementaryU.S. Post Office2009U.S. Post OfficeErie-Depew2006Erie-Depew
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.

Apollos Hitchcock
Retake this viewApollos Hitchcock, 1884

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Depew

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Finish Depew’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewApollos Hitchcock: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lancaster14 historic placesA+

Questions about Depew’s history

What year was Depew founded?

The Depew post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Depew rank for history?

Depew is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #702 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 Depew?

15% of Depew’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1961.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.