Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #283 of 758 in New York. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1880.
The Dobbs Ferry post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dobbs Ferry is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #283 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Dobbs Ferry’s 9.6 sits near the middle of its state (45% of New York towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dobbs Ferry. 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 Dobbs Ferry.
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.
1889Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dobbs Ferry.
Multiple groups of Native Americans lived around what is now known as Dobbs Ferry since at least 4500 BC. The most recent tribe who claimed territory of the area are the Wecquaesgeek, maintaining villages until the 1600s. Numerous artifacts from the tribe continue to be found along Wicker's Creek in oyster middens.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dobbs Ferry, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the 4th British troops had been stationed in the Mile Square, on Valentine's Hill, and at West Farms, and the New Rochelle Waldeckers were transferred to Williams's Bridge. On the 6th, as already related, Howe, with the main army, was at Dobbs Ferry. From there on the 7th lie dispatched his pack of artillery to Kingsbridge, and immediately upon its arrival at that place the work of erecting batteries along the Westchester shore was begun. These were planted in conformity with the secret information about the Fort
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
portion of the western border of the town the tracks of the Harlem Railroad run within the town limits for about a quarter of a mile, and here, just where the road to Ashford and Dobbs Ferry crosses the line, is situated Scarsdale Station. The building is a frame structure of two stories, with a steep-pitched roof. On the lower floor is a large waiting-room, with ticket and poet-office adjoining, while beyond is a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
made by way of the " Xew Bridge " at the mouth of the Croton River; and it was by the same route that Clinton fell back to Kingsbridge after being foiled by Heath. By the 20th of July Clinton had retired as far down as Dobbs Ferry. The British garrisons left at Verplanck's and Stony Points had a total of about 1,500. From the 20th of July to the 21st of October, when the posts were evacuated, these garrisons were wholly inactive. Heath, in his Memoirs, reports almost daily desertions from them to the American army. On 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.
In the archiveHastings Dobbs Ferry Irvington map
In the archivePlates 34 and 35- Dobbs Ferry, Hastings upon Hudson, and Irvington
Born hereWilliam B. Davidson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePaul Fix is born here
Born hereJohn A. Wickham is born here
In the archiveHAER NY,60-DOBF,2B- (sheet 1 of 1) - Old Croton Aqueduct, Maintenance Building, Walnut St…
Born hereMax Greenfield is born here
In the archiveNTSB RAR-81-44 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dobbs Ferry’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,915 people in 1880 to 11,541 in 2020, 6 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dobbs Ferry’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dobbs Ferry post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dobbs Ferry is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #283 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.
38% of Dobbs Ferry’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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