The story
Read it all →How Fleming came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Fleming.
The area of Fleming was first settled circa 1790. The town was formed in 1823 from part of the town of Aurelius.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Fleming
Fleming’s post office opened in 1826, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Sand Beach Church. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1830.
1826first post office
1on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Quick answers
How Fleming began
When was Fleming founded?
1826
The Fleming post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Owasco Lake (1850) and Mapleton (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,461 in 18302020 census: 2,477200 years
How historic is Fleming?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fleming post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fleming’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fleming is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fleming’s overall grade.
Founding era1826, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194032.4% of homes (±6.8) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 4.1 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
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 Fleming’s 4.1 sits below most of its state (32% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 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 Fleming’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1830 and 1920, then more than doubled.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fleming, and 6 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18994 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1956. Watch Fleming change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Fleming’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fleming’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Fleming, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1830 and 1920, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fleming’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Fleming had its own post office from 1826 to 1910. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fleming
Owasco Lake
Mapleton
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MapletonMoraine Manor Mobile Home ParkOwasco Lake StationSherlock CornersShumaker CrossingWyckoff
Gone or out of use
School Number 1schoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 6school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fleming
Arnold - ComstockFarmer FamilyFlemingGalpin HillLake ViewSaint JosephsSand Beach
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Fleming, 1823 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1823
Born hereSusan Ann Edson is born here - 1826Post officeThe Fleming post office opens
- 1850Post officeThe Owasco Lake post office opens
- 1851
Born hereAnna Morgan is born here - 1875
In the archiveFleming [Township]; Fleming [Village] - 1881Post officeThe Mapleton post office opens
- 1899
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1904
In the archiveCayuga County, Left Page (Map of - 1910Post officeThe Fleming post office closes
- 1919Post officeThe Owasco Lake post office closes
- 1948Post officeThe Mapleton post office closes
- 21st century
- 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 2,647
By decade
Fleming, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1870s–1900s3 items
19041910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
2006
2006
2006On the map
Fleming on the map, 1899 to 1956
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fleming. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Auburn sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fleming.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Fleming [Township]; Fleming [Village]](https://images.townratings.com/story/29055/460c8aa1e157787c217e-l.jpg)
Retake this viewFleming [Township]; Fleming [Village], 1875
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fleming’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Fleming
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
1975
Sand Beach Church
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Romanesque Revival1
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Fleming
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Fleming’s history
What year was Fleming founded?
The Fleming post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fleming rank for history?
Fleming is more historic than 80% 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 Fleming?
One place: the Sand Beach Church (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Fleming?
32% of Fleming’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1957.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.