The Frankfort post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Frankfort Hill (1837), West Frankfort (1853) and Graefenberg (1862), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,860 in 18202020 census: 7,011206 years
How historic is Frankfort?
A
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Frankfort post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Frankfort’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frankfort is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #320 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Frankfort’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 Frankfort’s 7.2 sits near the middle of its state (41% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±4.8 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 Frankfort’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Frankfort’s post office has been open since 1820. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Frankfort
1820–today
Frankfort Hill
1837–1901
West Frankfort
1853–1854
Graefenberg
1862–1879
Harbor
1881–1883
Gulph
1886–1902
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Corrado CornersEast FrankfortFrankfort CenterGulphHarborStewart CornersTerrace Hill Mobile Home EstatesWest Frankfort
Gone or out of use
Brick SchoolhouseschoolDutch Hill SchoolschoolFrankfort Center SchoolschoolFrankfort Colony SchoolschoolRock City SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 7schoolUnion Free Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Frankfort, building by building, 1886–1914
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
The first European settlers in this area were German Palatines who came to the colony as religious refugees in 1723. During the French and Indian War, this area suffered fierce attacks by the French with their Indian allies, and the settlers abandoned much of the area. The area of the early town was resettled before 1794, by the granting of land patents.
After the Revolutionary War, the town of Frankfort was established from part of the town of German Flatts. In 1798, the northwest part of Frankfort was taken away to form part of the town of Deerfield.
Passages that mention Frankfort, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Herkimer county, New York1893 · page 396Read the page →
Read the text
There are five post-offices in the town of Frankfort, the one at Frankfort village being undercharge of Thomas Honahan as postmaster. At Frankfort Center the postmaster is W. L. Tisdale. At the Gulf John Alvord has the post-office ; at McGowan's, A. W. McGowan is postmaster. At Frankfort Hill H. C. Pryne is postmaster. There is no business of consequence at any of these points.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Herkimer county, including the upper Mohawk valley, from the earliest period to the present time1856 · page 214Read the page →
Read the text
perhaps, for the information of any inhabitant of the county, that the Erie canal traverses its territory, from west to east, on the south side of the Mohawk river, passing through the villages of Frankfort, Ilion, Mohawk and the town of Danube ; nor that the New York central rail road traverses the county from east to west, on the north side of the river, passing through the town of Manheim, the villages of Little Falls and Herkimer, and part of the town of Schuyler, cross-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Herkimer county, New York1893 · page 391Read the page →
Read the text
In 1872 the village of Frankfort was connected with Ilion by a street railroad, giving frequent and easy connection with that village, as well as with Mohawk and Herkimer by similar lines.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Herkimer county, including the upper Mohawk valley, from the earliest period to the present time1856 · page 400Read the page →
Read the text
There were some German settlements along the river in this town before the revolution. It appears there was a grist mill at the creek next east of Frankfort village, which was burned by the French and Indians in 1757. A sawmill on the next creek below was also burnt by the same party.
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
Frankfort, 1800 to 1973
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 Frankfort post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Frankfort rank for history?
Frankfort is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #320 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 Frankfort?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the US Post Office-Frankfort (listed 1989, the first).
How old are the homes in Frankfort?
36% of Frankfort’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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