1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 57 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1820.
The Fabius post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Apulia (1825), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,123 in 18202020 census: 2,006210 years
How historic is Fabius?
A+
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fabius post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fabius’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fabius is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. 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 Fabius’ 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 Fabius’ 276 sits above most of its state (86% of New York towns have fewer) while its 57 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% 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 (±5.2 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 Fabius’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region was part of the Central New York Military Tract used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. The town was formed in 1798 from Pompey and was one of the original townships in the Military Tract established in 1790. Fabius is named for the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus.
Fabius lost territory to the new towns of Tully (1806) and Truxton (1808 on the formation of Cortland County).
The town of Fabius and some of the town's 1950s landmarks—the Fabius Central School and the famous Shea's General Store—are featured in the novel, The Pompey Hollow Book Club by Jerome Mark Antil.
Passages that mention Fabius, cut from the printed page as they were published.
... History of Onondaga County, New York1878 · page 382Read the page →
Read the text
Fabius was erected from Pompey in 1798. It included at that time two military townships — Fabius and Tully — embracing all the present towns of Fabius, Tully, Truxton and Preble, with parts of Spafford and Otisco, being ten by twenty miles in extent. Tully was taken from it in 1803, and in 1808, when the county of Cortland was set off from Onondaga, the town of Truxton was taken from the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
... History of Onondaga County, New York1878 · page 402Read the page →
Read the text
The Pompey " Reunion " gives the name of Elnathan Griffith, a gentleman ninety years of age, residing at Delphi, formerly a resident of the town of Fabius, as authority on the early settlement. Samuel Sherwood, probably the first settler in this locality, settled on Lot No. 84, about one mile northwest of the present village, in 1795. He came from Saratoga county, and was a Major-General of militia.
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
Fabius, 1816 to 1944
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Fabius’s post office has been open since 1816. Another post office, Apulia, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fabius
1816–today
Apulia
1825–1944
Apulia Station
1898–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ApuliaApulia Station
Gone or out of use
Palladino PitmineSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 15schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fabius
ApuliaBeachFabius EvergreenKeeney SettlementMilesOld FabiusStockham Hill
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Fabius post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fabius rank for history?
Fabius is more historic than 95% 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 Fabius?
One place: the Fabius Village Historic District (listed 2000).
How old are the homes in Fabius?
34% of Fabius’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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