More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #699 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Stone Spillway, National Defense Stockpile Center. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1870.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fenton is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #699 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fenton’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 Fenton’s 1.6 sits below most of its state (23% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Fenton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1910, then grew 6-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fenton’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, North Fenton, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Port Crane
1842–today
North Fenton
1867–1904
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fenton Mobile Home ParkForest ManorHickory Ridge Mobile Home ParkMountain View Trailer ParkNorth FentonPleasant HillPort CraneQuinnevilleRiverside Mobile Home ParkVirginia City Mobile Home CourtWyman Corner
Gone or out of use
Pleasant Hill SchoolschoolSaint Catherine ConventchurchSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 7school
1cemetery inside Fenton
Chenango Valley
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The area was first settled around 1788. The town of Port Crane was formed from the town of Chenango in 1855. The larger town of Fenton was established in 1867. Port Crane has remained as a hamlet within the town of Fenton.
The former Chenango Canal (1834–1876) passed through the west side of the town, following the Chenango River. The town developed and prospered with the advent of the canal. While the canal was supplanted by the railroads, the town was bypassed by the trains. When the canal was gone, the prosperity in Port Crane left with it.
Passages that mention Fenton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Family history of Jeremiah Fenton (1764-1841) of Adams County, Ohio, and his descendants1910Read the page →
Read the text
In the book entitled "Who's Who," 1906. published in London, I m dice the names of Henry John Horstman Fenton, 19 Brookside, Cambridge, born in Cambridge, 1854, University Lecturer in Chemistry, Cambridge; also the name of Sir Myles Fenton, born September 5, 1830, residing at Redstone Hall, Redhill, Surrey. In the American Edition of this work, I notice the name of Hector Tyndale Fenton, 502 Commonwealth Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, born August 6, 1850,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Family history of Jeremiah Fenton (1764-1841) of Adams County, Ohio, and his descendants1910 · page XRead the page →
Read the text
A careful count shows that there are, living and dead, 459 descendants of Jeremiah Fenton (1764 ). Of this number the William Fenton family leads with 128, composed of (*><► males and 62 females: the Elizabeth Eylar family follows closely with 113, 58 males and 55 females; next comes the Folly Baird family with 83, 41 males and 12 females; then the family of Jeremiah Fenton with 49, 21 males and 25 females; next the Catherine Eckman family
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
Fenton, 1842 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Fenton is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #699 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.
What is on the National Register in Fenton?
One place: the Stone Spillway, National Defense Stockpile Center (listed 2004).
How old are the homes in Fenton?
12% of Fenton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (2), Wikidata (1), 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.
2015
