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History · Fly Creek

Fly Creek’s post office opened in 1822, and 65% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1907 on and old-book passages.

1822first post office
3on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Adam Moss from Tonawanda, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Fly Creek began

When was Fly Creek founded?

1822

The Fly Creek post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 270204 years
Founding year: the first Fly Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fly Creek’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 Fly Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fly Creek’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19073 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1994. Watch Fly Creek change.Deep rootsA post office since 1822: 204 years of Fly Creek.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fly Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fly Creek’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
The story so far

Fly Creek, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fly Creek yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Fly Creek is a non-incorporated hamlet (and census-designated place) three miles west of the Village of Cooperstown on conjoined NY-28/NY-80, in the Town of Otsego, in Otsego County, New York, United States. The zipcode is 13337. The Fly Creek Cider Mill and Orchard is located by the hamlet. As of the 2020 census, Fly Creek had a population of 270. It is the location of the Fly Creek Grange No. 844, which is now a museum. Fly Creek Grange No. 844 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is also a Fly Creek Historic District, which includes the grange hall. The hamlet was once served by the Southern New York Railroad, an electric trolley line that ran from Oneonta to Moha…

Its first post office opened in 1822.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

On the map

Fly Creek on the map, 1907 to 1994

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

Fly Creek on the 1907 USGS mapFly Creek on the 1943 USGS mapFly Creek on the 1994 USGS map1907Cooperstown 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 Fly Creek.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Fly Creek in 1878

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

Benjamin and Michael Keyser settled in Fly Creek village in 181G. The latter served in the War of 1812, and was with the army at Plattsburg. In the year 1813 Clark Brow came to Fly Creek as a workman in the machineshop of Jarvis & Todd. He built and operated the first cotton machinery in this secti…
History of Otsego County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1878 · page 250Read the page →
Read the text

Benjamin and Michael Keyser settled in Fly Creek village in 181G. The latter served in the War of 1812, and was with the army at Plattsburg. In the year 1813 Clark Brow came to Fly Creek as a workman in the machineshop of Jarvis & Todd. He built and operated the first cotton machinery in this section of country.

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.

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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the National Register

3 listings protect 113 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
113
each building in a district counts

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

Questions about Fly Creek’s history

What year was Fly Creek founded?

The Fly Creek post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.