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History · Dickinson

Dickinson dates to 1809, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Hastings Farmstead. Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1820.

1809founded
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dickinson began

When was Dickinson founded?

1809

Dickinson dates its founding to 1809 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 495 in 18202020 census: 965217 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.

What stands out about Dickinson’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Dickinson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Dickinson, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,329 in 1880; 1,031 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1809: 217 years of Dickinson.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dickinson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dickinson’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Dickinson had its own post office from 1828 to 1904. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dickinson
1828–1904
South Dickinson
1842–1854
Dickinson Centre
1854–today
East Dickinson
1857–1905
Linkinson
1867–1873
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dickinson CenterEast Dickinson
Gone or out of use
Potter SchoolschoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6school
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dickinson
East DickinsonFairviewIvesNorth Dickinson

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

People over time

Dickinson, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001850190019502000Peak: 2,329

Peaked at 2,329 in 1880; 1,031 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

The story so far

Dickinson, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dickinson yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Dickinson is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 1,031 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Philemon Dickinson, a brigadier general of the New Jersey militia during the American Revolutionary War. Dickinson is on the western border of Franklin County, southwest of Malone and east of Potsdam.

Dickinson was established in 1809. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 823 to 965 (+17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Dickinson, 1902–1917

Passages that mention Dickinson, cut from the printed page as they were published.

POSTOFFICE In the chapter on early settlement in this history of Dickinson County something is said of the early mail routes to and from the settlement at Spirit Lake and difficulty of transporting mail matter across the prairies.
History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa1917 · page 348Read the page →
Read the text

POSTOFFICE In the chapter on early settlement in this history of Dickinson County something is said of the early mail routes to and from the settlement at Spirit Lake and difficulty of transporting mail matter across the prairies.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first winter of Mr. Richards' work here was marked by the first religious revival in Dickinson County and probably the first in this portion of the state. A series of revival meetings was held in the Center Grove schoolhouse, commencing some time in January and continuing about six weeks, durin…
A history of Dickinson County, Iowa, together with an account of the Spirit Lake massacre, and the Indian troubles on the northwestern frontier ..1902 · page 305Read the page →
Read the text

The first winter of Mr. Richards' work here was marked by the first religious revival in Dickinson County and probably the first in this portion of the state. A series of revival meetings was held in the Center Grove schoolhouse, commencing some time in January and continuing about six weeks, during which time an intense interest was manifested and large accessions to the church was the result. The schoolhouse where the meetings were held was a low log affair, about fourteen by twenty feet

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The two professions — those of Law and Medicine — have been well represented in Dickinson County since the first settlements in 1857. Naturally, in the first years, there were few doctors and few lawyers, but the services of one or two of either were adequate for the sparse settlements around the l…
History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa1917 · page 385Read the page →
Read the text

The two professions — those of Law and Medicine — have been well represented in Dickinson County since the first settlements in 1857. Naturally, in the first years, there were few doctors and few lawyers, but the services of one or two of either were adequate for the sparse settlements around the lakes. Personal troubles and disputes were more often decided among the parties involved or else submitted to the seer of the community.

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

Dickinson, 1809 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1809
    FoundingDickinson is established
  3. 1828Post officeThe Dickinson post office opens
  4. 1842Post officeThe South Dickinson post office opens
  5. 1846Born hereGideon S. Ives is born here
  6. 1854Post officeThe South Dickinson post office closes
  7. 1854Post officeThe Dickinson Centre post office opens
  8. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 2,329
  9. 20th century
  10. 1904Post officeThe Dickinson post office closes
  11. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Dickinson on the map, 1964 to 1994

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

Dickinson on the 1964 USGS mapDickinson on the 1985 USGS mapDickinson on the 1994 USGS map1964Saint Regis Falls sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dickinson.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Dickinson

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Hastings Farmstead
Hastings Farmstead
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Hastings FarmsteadVernacular

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

MoiraIts storyB+BrandonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWaverly1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLawrenceIts storyB

Questions about Dickinson’s history

What year was Dickinson founded?

In 1809, according to Wikidata. Dickinson’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1820 counted 495 people here.

What is on the National Register in Dickinson?

One place: the Hastings Farmstead (listed 2007).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (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.