Founding year: the first Falconer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Falconer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Falconer is more historic than 50% 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 Falconer’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 Falconer’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 D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 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 Falconer’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area now known as Falconer was inhabited by the Erie People until the mid-1600s. Five years of war with the Seneca Nation led to the Erie Nation's decimation; their people migrated and were absorbed into the Seneca community, who then inhabited this land. During the Revolutionary War, the thriving Seneca Nation sided with the losing British. In 1779, George Washington organized the Sullivan Expedition, a military campaign intended to weaken Loyalist and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) communities. The Seneca signed the Treaty at Big Tree in 1797, surrendering most of their lands to the United States government.
Passages that mention Falconer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 434Read the page →
Read the text
ment Company gets its gas near Silver Creek, and supplies part of the town and confines. The Pennsylvania Gas Company gets its gas in northern Pennsylvania and supplies Jamestown, the village of Falconer, and the town of Ellicott. There are a number of small users of gas who generate it by different inventive means, gasoline, etc., and some also develop electric power. These consumers are principally located in the countryside and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921Read the page →
Read the text
if. i Falconer, the prosperous and rapidly growing manufacturing village of Ellicott, is an incorporated village, joining the city of Jamestown on the east. It is located on level ground, with dry gravelly soil, surrounded by a fine farming country, and has an intelligent, progressive population. It has most excellent
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
Falconer, 1880 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 Falconer post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Falconer rank for history?
Falconer is more historic than 50% 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 Falconer?
44% of Falconer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
1880
2025
2021
2021
2021
2013
2012
c. 2012
