The Ephratah post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Lassellsville (1812), Garoga (1828) and Rockwood (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,818 in 18302020 census: 1,677199 years
How historic is Ephratah?
B
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ephratah post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ephratah’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ephratah is more historic than 61% 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 Ephratah’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 Ephratah’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 (±5.5 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 Ephratah’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region was first settled c.1720. The Stone Arabia patent, granted in 1723, comprised much of the southern part of Ephratah.
The town name, suggested by earlier inhabitant Anthony Beck, suggests abundance in bearing fruit, related to his prophecy of a great city to be built there in the future.
The town was formed in 1827 from the town of Palatine in Montgomery County, before the creation of Fulton County. Upon the formation of Fulton County in 1838, part of Ephratah was returned to Palatine.
The Ephratah post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ephratah rank for history?
Ephratah is more historic than 61% 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 Ephratah?
24% of Ephratah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (11), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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