Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
East Hills dates its founding to 1931 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1940.
More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Hills is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #730 of 758 in New York. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 East Hills’ 6.9 sits near the middle of its state (40% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how East Hills’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of East Hills. 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 East Hills.
From Wikipedia’s history of East Hills.
In 1643, John Carman and Robert Fordham sailed across the Long Island Sound from Stamford, Connecticut and purchased the land that is now occupied by the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead from the Native Americans. This land included what is now East Hills.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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.
Between 343 and 8,624 people in every census since 1940.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on East Hills’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in East Hills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1931, according to Wikidata. the census of 1940 counted 343 people here.
East Hills is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #730 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.
8% of East Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2020
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2007
