The Erin post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, South Erin (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,806193 years
How historic is Erin?
B+
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Erin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Erin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Erin is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Erin’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 Erin’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (35% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 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 Erin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area that would become the town was first settled before 1816. The town of Erin was formed in 1822 from the town of Chemung.
The Scotchtown Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
The Erin Volunteer Fire Department was founded on May 5, 1955. Land donated by the late Merton Schanbacker was used to build the first fire station. Later in 1998 the current fire station was built adjacent to the original fire station. The current fire department operates with roughly 25 all volunteer members and 6 well equipped apparatus which include an EMS ambulance (882), a rescue truck (881), an Engine (831), a Tanker (861), a brush truck (871) and a UTV (872).
Passages that mention Erin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A brief history of Chemung county, New York1907 · page 31Read the page →
Read the text
held meetings at Pine Valley in Veteran Township; in 1825; but there was no society organized until 1858. Local preachers held meetings in the township of Erin earlier than 1828, but there was no organization until long after. Baptists were early in the field. A society was formed on May 16, 1829, called the Southport and Elmira Baptist Church. In 1831, it was legally
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A brief history of Chemung county, New York1907 · page 71Read the page →
Read the text
tricts and the same number of school-houses. In the village of the name, there have been three school-houses, one built in 1815, the red school-house built in 1837, and the one now in use, built in 1853. In Erin there were, in 1833, three school-houses, and the interest therein has not abated. In Van Etten the first school was taught by Mrs. Jonathan Baker, in 1803. There are now twelve school districts in the township. In Van Ettenville, in this township, there was
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.
By decade
Erin, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
The Erin post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Erin rank for history?
Erin is more historic than 73% 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 Erin?
One place: the Scotchtown Cemetery (listed 2008).
How old are the homes in Erin?
21% of Erin’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 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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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