4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elizabethtown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elizabethtown is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elizabethtown’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 Elizabethtown’s 87.0 sits above most of its state (73% of New York towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
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 (±13.0 points). Two sources give 1792.
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 Elizabethtown’s past
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 Elizabethtown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Elizabethtown sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elizabethtown.
William Gilliland, an investor, bought up large tracts of land in Essex County. The town was first settled around 1792 near New Russia.
The town of Elizabethtown was established in 1798 from the town of Crown Point. The community of Elizabethtown in this town became the county seat, succeeding a location in the town of Essex. Parts of the town were used to form the towns of Moriah (1808), Keene (1898), and Westport (1815).
The lumber industry and processing iron ore were important in the beginning, but tourism became prominent by the end of the 19th century.
The Hand-Hale Historic District and Hubbard Hall are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A mortgage foreclosure notice published in The Reveille of Oct. 12, 1814, shows that on the 5th day of August, 1808, "Theodorus Ross of the Town of Elizabethtown in the County of Essex" borrowed $500 of Jonas Gibbs, Jr., for which he gave security on 143 acres of land in Elizabethtown. In default of payment said Gibbs advertised to sell the land to the highest bidder "at the house now occupied by Norman Newell and son in Elizabethtown aforesaid." The advertisement com-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
abethtown aforesaid and is bounded as follows towit — Beginning at a stake south thirty seven degrees and thirty minutes west from the southwest corner of the court house in said town of Elizabethtown one chain and sixty two links and runs thence north sixty eight degrees east three chains and twenty five links to a stake thence north twenty five degrees west three chains and eight links to a stake. Thence south sixty eight degrees west three chains and twenty five links to a stake.
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
Elizabethtown, 1792 to 1973
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.
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.
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.
In 1792, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Elizabethtown’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1820 counted 889 people here.
How does Elizabethtown rank for history?
Elizabethtown is more historic than 94% 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.
What is on the National Register in Elizabethtown?
4 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Hand-Hale Historic District, with 7 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 10 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Elizabethtown?
41% of Elizabethtown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (24), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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, 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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