Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #384 of 758 in New York. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1830.
Ellery dates its founding to 1806 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ellery is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #384 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Ellery’s 29.5 sits near the middle of its state (61% of New York towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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.
Ellery had its own post office from 1822 to 1900. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ellery’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1840 and 1920, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ellery’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ellery.
The area known as Ellery was originally home to the Erie People. The first settlement of European colonists was made circa 1806. The town of Ellery was founded in 1821 from a part of the town of Chautauqua. William Ellery, signer of the Declaration of Independence, is the town's namesake. The lake frontage was developed early as a tourist and recreational location.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ellery, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Tlie town of Ellery was on the 29th of Februar\' 1821 formed from Chautau([ua, and named in honor of William Ellery, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Almon Ives was elected the first sui)ervisor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
near the mouth of the Kiantone, the forms of com hills, upon lands that appeared to have once been cleared, and had since grown up to small shrubbery of thorns and red plum.* In November, 1805, when William Bemus first came to the town of Ellery, at Bemus Point, unmistakable evidences remained, that an Indian settlement had formerly existed there. Where the cemetery is situated, were the decayed remains and traces of some Indian dwellings, and the evidences that a large tract of land in the vicinity had formerly been improved. On
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.![He was from Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., and settled on lot r 5, Sept. i, 1815. He had previously settled early in the town of Ellery, about the year 1808. [His name, however, does not appear on the Company's books as a purchaser there.] He was one of the corps of surveyors that ran the line…](https://images.townratings.com/story/28359/bk-24e70c6943f05710-l.jpg)
He was from Stephentown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., and settled on lot r 5, Sept. i, 1815. He had previously settled early in the town of Ellery, about the year 1808. [His name, however, does not appear on the Company's books as a purchaser there.] He was one of the corps of surveyors that ran the lines in this part of the county previously to its settlement. The center of the township was found, in the survey, to be on a little island in the stream, where was a small red cherry tree. Mr. Bentley, the axe-man, cut it down, drove down a stake, and named the stream " Cherry creek," which afterwards
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
at that time of year afforded, carrying her infant, she wandered several days in the dense woods which then spread over the towns of Chautauqua, Ellery, Gerry and Ellicott. She must have strayed northeasterly far into the town of Ellery, for she finally struck a small stream which she followed until it discharged its waters into a larger stream, which proved
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 archiveEllery (Township); Ellery Center (Village); Ellery Center Business Directory
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ellery. 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 Ellery.
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 Ellery’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1806, according to Wikidata. Ellery’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1830 counted 2,001 people here.
Ellery is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #384 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.
One place: the Midway Park (listed 2009).
19% of Ellery’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
