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History · Exeter

Exeter’s post office opened in 1812, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Schuyler Lake Stone Church. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 1820.

1812first post office
1on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Exeter began

When was Exeter founded?

1812

The Exeter post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,430 in 18202020 census: 845214 years
Founding year: the first Exeter post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Exeter’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Exeter are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,690 in 1830; 987 people lived here in 2010.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1812: 214 years of Exeter.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Exeter’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Exeter’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Exeter, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001850190019502000Peak: 1,690

Peaked at 1,690 in 1830; 987 people lived here in 2010.

20 censuses, 1820–2010.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Exeter’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Exeter had its own post office from 1812 to 1918.

Exeter
1812–1918
Schuyler Lake
1829–today
West Exeter
1836–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Exeter CornerLidell CornersSchuyler LakeWest Exeter
Gone or out of use
Cobblestone SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolRyder SchoolschoolSchool Number 5school
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Exeter
ExeterHerkimerSchuyler LakeWest Exeter

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Exeter came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Exeter.

Read it all →

The name Exeter derives from the city of Exeter in Devon, England.

John Tunnicliff purchased 12,000 acres (49 km2) of a patent that included the town from David Schuyler and others in 1756, but had to abandon attempts to settle the town until after the French and Indian War.

The first settlements were made around 1769 near Angel Hill. The town was formed from the Town of Richfield in 1799.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Exeter in 1806

Passages that mention Exeter, cut from the printed page as they were published.

1709. George, being appointed Lord Lieutenant of the County of Devon, and city of Exeter, was admitted to the freedom of the city. 1710. In this year. Sir Coplettone Wartoick Bampfylde, and John Snell, Esquire, were elected Members of Parliament for this city.
The history and description of the city of Exeter, and its environs, ancient and modern, civil and ecclesiastical1806 · page 198Read the page →
Read the text

1709. George, being appointed Lord Lieutenant of the County of Devon, and city of Exeter, was admitted to the freedom of the city. 1710. In this year. Sir Coplettone Wartoick Bampfylde, and John Snell, Esquire, were elected Members of Parliament for this city.

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

Exeter, 1812 to 1918

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1812Post officeThe Exeter post office opens
  3. 1829Post officeThe Schuyler Lake post office opens
  4. 1830CensusPopulation peaks at 1,690
  5. 1836Post officeThe West Exeter post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1918Post officeThe Exeter post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Exeter on the map, 1907 to 1943

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Exeter. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Exeter on the 1907 USGS mapExeter on the 1943 USGS map1907Winfield sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Exeter.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Exeter

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2025
Schuyler Lake Stone Church
Schuyler Lake Stone Church
Buildings
All 1 listings
Schuyler Lake Stone ChurchBuilding · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Otsego8 historic placesA+Schuyler Lake1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPlainfield1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRichfield8 historic placesA+Burlington1 historic placeA−

Questions about Exeter’s history

What year was Exeter founded?

The Exeter post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Exeter?

One place: the Schuyler Lake Stone Church (listed 2025).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.