The Diana post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Oswegatchie (1840), Diana Centre (1857) and Diana Station (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 309 in 18302020 census: 1,610180 years
How did Diana get its name?
Diana was named after the Roman goddess Diana.
How historic is Diana?
B+
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Diana is more historic than 67% 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 Diana’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 Diana’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 (±6.3 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 Diana’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Diana was established from part of the town of Watson in 1830. In 1841, part of the town was used to help establish the town of Croghan. It was named after the Roman goddess Diana.
The Alpina Archeological District and Lewisburg Archeological District were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Joseph Bonaparte, the older brother of Napoleon, spent part of his exile living in the town near Natural Bridge. Lake Bonaparte in the northern part of the town is named after him.
Passages that mention Diana, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Lewis County, New York1883 · page 225Read the page →
Read the text
Palmer, and family, removed from Otsego county to the town of LeRay, Jefferson county, in 1828, thence to the town of Diana, Lewis county, in 1830. The town was then a wilderness — he located in that part of it known as the Oswegatchie Settlement, purchasing land from Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Lewis County, New York1883 · page 224Read the page →
Read the text
with the Utica and Black River railroad and the Black River canal, thus opening an outlet to the vast forest yet covering a part of the town of Diana, and adjacent townships in St. Lawrence and Herkimer counties. Although spending most of his life in contact with pioneers and rude workers of the forest, he has
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.
Timeline
Diana, 1840 to 1913
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Diana post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Diana rank for history?
Diana is more historic than 67% 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 Diana?
33% of Diana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (3), Wikipedia, 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.
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