Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #389 of 758 in New York. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 1830.
Evans dates its founding to 1821 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Evans is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #389 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 National Register listings 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 Evans’ 5.3 sits near the middle of its state (36% of New York towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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.
Evans had its own post office from 1822 to 1901. 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveEvans (Township)
In the archiveEvans Center (Village); North Evans (Village); Evans (Township)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Evans.
The town of Evans was established in 1821 from part of the town of Eden. The first settler arrived circa 1804, but there was no permanent settlement until 1808. David Evans was named the local agent of the Holland Land Company in 1827. He was known for his humane management of the company business in relation to the impoverished settlers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Evans, cut from the printed page as they were published.
This was the case of the ruling or head branch of the family descended from the old Prince of Furlys, and they assumed the name of their chieftain, Evan. By the rounding changes of time this came to be called Evans and so it has remained, the proper Welsh pronunciation being with the short "e" as in "ever." One branch of the family was recently represented by Thomas Evans, Esq., of Hadley Park, Cambridgeshire, a lineal descendant of the last Evans, Lord Culbery, an Irish peer in 1650.*
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In a foot-note to the above the same author says : "Nathan Evans was the grand-father of the late Thomas Evans, and General William Evans, of Marion. The father of General Evans was also named Nathan, and was a man of upright character throughout life."
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1866Evans (Township)
1866North Evans (Village); North Evans Business Directory…1880Evans Center (Village); North Evans (Village); Evans …
1880James T. Hawley, Sturgeon Point, Evans Township, Erie…
1880Res. of David C. Oatman, Angola, N.Y., County Clerk o…
1880Res. of L.S. Morsman, Derby. Erie Co, N.Y.; Erie Pres…
1880Store of Leroy S. Oatman, Druggist and Dealer in Book…The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Evans.
1960Angola sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Evans.
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 Evans’ page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,185 and 17,961 people in every census since 1830.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Evans’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1821, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Evans’ post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1830 counted 1,185 people here.
Evans is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #389 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the US Post Office-Angola (listed 1988, the first), and 1 site. 8 historic buildings in all.
26% of Evans’ 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 1957.
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 (13), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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 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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