The Ellington post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Clear Creek (1829) and Conewango Valley (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,279 in 18302020 census: 1,497201 years
How historic is Ellington?
B
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ellington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ellington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ellington is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ellington’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 Ellington’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Ellington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town of Ellington was formed on April 1, 1824, from the town of Gerry, and Cherry Creek was taken off on May 4, 1829. The first real settlement in the area was towards the northeast part of the town. The first settler to this area was Joshua Bentley, who purchased part of lot 7 in 1814, and part of lot 6 in 1815. Once the town was officially formed in 1824, the first town meeting was held on March 1, 1825, at the house of Lucretia French, in the north part of town. The first religious services were held at the house of James Bates in 1817 by Rev. Daniel Hadley.
Passages that mention Ellington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 170Read the page →
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The town of Ellington is bounded on the north by the town of Cherry Creek, on the west by the town of Gerry, south by the town of Poland, and on the east by Cattaraugus county. It is understood to have been named after Ellington in Connecticut. Most of the ♦This narrative is by Mr. Theodore A. Case.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, including East Windsor, South Windsor, and Ellington, prior to 1768, the date of their separation from the old town1859 · page 113Read the page →
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This extensive purchase, covering the greatest part of Enfield; two thirds of East Windsor; east of Scantic; and all of Ellington, was obtained by the Bissells for the town of Windsor, to whom it was afterwards transferred. The Bissells received 200 acres (in the present town of Ellington) for their share in the transaction.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of ancient Windsor, Connecticut, including East Windsor, South Windsor, and Ellington, prior to 1768, the date of their separation from the old town1859 · page 226Read the page →
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&c. As their numbers and necessities increased, they gradually moved further back in the woodlands, and there cleared away farms and building spots. Of these later settlements, such as the present town of Ellington, the parish of Scantic jn East Windsor, and Wapping in South Windsor, we shall speak more fully in a subsequent portion of our volume.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 311Read the page →
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the Academy passed into the possession of the Board of Education of the Union School as the academic department of the Westfield High School Ellington Academy was organized March 30, 18M March 23 1871 the trustees passed a resolution transferring the Academy property to Union School District No 2, of the town of Ellington, and it became the academic department of the Ellington High School.
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
Ellington, 1825 to 1943
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Ellington post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ellington rank for history?
Ellington is more historic than 63% 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 Ellington?
27% of Ellington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (2), 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.
1867
