Elmira’s post office opened in 1809, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #49 of 758 in New York. What drives it
30 places in town are on the National Register, among them six historic districts with 707 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1870.
The Elmira post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1864. Two smaller post offices, Newtown (1800) and Park (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 15,863 in 18702020 census: 26,523217 years
How historic is Elmira?
A+
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Elmira post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elmira’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elmira is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #49 of 758 in New York. 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 Elmira’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 Elmira’s 283 sits above most of its state (86% of New York towns have fewer) while its 743 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% 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 (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1864.
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 Elmira’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region of Elmira was inhabited by the Cayuga nation (also known as the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ) of the Haudenosaunee prior to European colonization. Cayuga residing in the region maintained relations with European settlers, primarily related to the fur trade, but were otherwise relatively isolated from expanding colonial settlements.
with that of Mr. Ewan. He remembers the circumstances of his escape practically as given. The best evidencey however, is this: Mr. A. P. Morrow, a prominent manufacturer of Elmira, while travelling one day, about a year ago, from Birffalo to Elmira on the Erie Railroad, struck up a conversation with a man who said he had been a Confederate prisoner in Elmira, and related the following story. "I escaped from the prison
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A brief history of Chemung county, New York1907 · page 38Read the page →
Read the text
comfortable to look at.5> One of the earliest thoughts about the river was how to get over on the other side. Steps were begun in 1817 to build a bridge at Elmira, but the effort had no fruition until seven years later, and it was not until 1824 that the first bridge was thrown over the stream at Elmira. The second one was built the next year, near the village of Chemung.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A brief history of Chemung county, New York1907 · page 100Read the page →
Read the text
1807 — July 1 — First turnpike through the county from Elmira to Seneca Lake. 1808 — April 6 — Township of Elmira formed from Chemung. 1812 — Newtown regularly included in Methodist circuit — First Baptist Church built in Wellsburg.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
adverse conditions did not exist at Elmira, and all testimony goes to show that the prisoners in the Elmira camp were better treated than they had a just right to expect. Had the same spirit of bitterness existed in the minds of the citizens of Elmira, which all history proclaims as true of our Southern citizens, things could have been made severely unpleasant for the poor prisoners, but there was nothing but feelings of sadness and human sympathy, and the citizens and guards did all they could
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
Elmira, 1800 to 1968
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.
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.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Elmira’s post office has been open since 1809. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Newtown
1800–1809
Elmira
1809–today
Park
1874–1904
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dewittsburg Park Housing ProjectHathorn CourtHoffman Plaza Housing Project
Gone or out of use
Elmira College Station Post Officepost officeHoffman SchoolschoolLagonegro SchoolschoolSaint Mary's ConventchurchSaint Patricks SchoolschoolSouthside High SchoolschoolWest Side Elmira Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elmira
Fulton StreetSaints Peter and PaulSecond StreetWoodlawnWoodlawn National
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Elmira’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The Elmira post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1864.
How does Elmira rank for history?
Elmira is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #49 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.
What is on the National Register in Elmira?
30 listings: 23 buildings, 6 historic districts with 707 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 743 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Elmira?
57% of Elmira’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 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 (5), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (30), 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.
1864
1890
1890
1896
1896
1897–1924
1901
