Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Dolgeville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dolgeville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dolgeville’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 Dolgeville’s 90.7 sits above most of its state (74% of New York towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1794.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.6 points).
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 Dolgeville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village was founded in 1794 by Samuel Low with the construction of two mills. A grist mill and later a saw mill were built by Captain John Favill on Ransom Creek about 1795. Soon a little settlement sprang up as other settlers moved in; with a blacksmith shop, tannery and school house. Families by the names of Ayers, Spencer, Ransom, Spofford, Lamberson, Brockett and Rundell soon followed and settled the adjoining lands which they cleared for farms.
Peaked at 3,448 in 1920; 2,042 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dolgeville’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Dolgeville in 1893
Passages that mention Dolgeville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Herkimer county, New York1893 · page 333Read the page →
Read the text
Dolgeville lies in the spurs of the Adirondacks, on both sides of the East Canada Creek, and eight miles from Little Falls, with which it is now connected by railroad. The principal part of the village, which includes all the factories, post-office, schools, business blocks, etc., is situated in the northeast corner of the township of Manheim. Many handsome residences, the academy, the Episcopal church, the lumber yards, etc., lie on the further side of the creek in the township of Oppenheim, Fulton county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Herkimer county, New York1893 · page 339Read the page →
Read the text
The Dolgeville Coal Company was started in 1892 with a cash capital of $20,000. It has built large coal sheds, with all the latest appliances, near the terminus of the Dolgeville Railroad.
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
Dolgeville, 1794 to 1931
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1794, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Dolgeville’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1900 counted 1,915 people here.
How does Dolgeville rank for history?
Dolgeville is more historic than 95% 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 Dolgeville?
58% of Dolgeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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) 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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