Fredonia’s post office opened in 1817, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #209 of 758 in New York. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Fredonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fredonia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fredonia is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #209 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 Fredonia’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 Fredonia’s 23.2 sits near the middle of its state (58% of New York towns have fewer) while its 22 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 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 Fredonia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fredonia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Dunkirk 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 Fredonia.
Every building
Fredonia, building by building, 1886–1907
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 village that is now Fredonia was most likely first occupied by early Mound Builders, then the Erie people (13th to 17th centuries), then the Seneca people of the Iroquois.
The area's original name was Canadaway (from the Seneca word Ganadawao, meaning "among the hemlocks"). The Seneca know it today as Ganë́'daweö.
In 1791, Robert Morris purchased the Fredonia land from Massachusetts and sold it to the Holland Land Company. Parcels were sold to pioneers around 1800, and the first settlers came around 1803 or 1804. Among the first settlers included Zattu Cushing, the county's first judge, and David Eason, the county's first sheriff.
Passages that mention Fredonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Fredonia lies in the heart of the grape belt. The first settlement in Fredonia by a white man was made in 1804, near the Beebe place, on Risley street. The Indians had named the stream which flowed by his cabin Gon-no-do-wao, meaning in the Seneca tongue, "flowing through the hemlocks ;" he pronounced it Can-a-da-wa, and this was the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York1875 · page 469Read the page →
Read the text
The early settlement of the town of Pomfret was chiefly on and north of the north line of township 5, range 12. The greater part of the village of Fredonia is north of that line, in township 6. Pomfret embraced both townships 5 and 6, until the formation of the town of Dunkirk, in 1859. In forming this town, the two south tiers of lots in township 6 were left in Pomfret ; the latter thus retaining an area of 28,899 acres, and the former containing only 6,632 acres. The reasons for so unequal a division of territory probably are — First, because most of the village of Fredonia was in township
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas McClintock was bom in Northumberland Co., Pa., in 1768, and emigrated to Erie Co., Pa., in 1798 or 1799. In December, 1803, he located land at Canadaway [Fredonia.] He subsequently articled lots or parts of lots 8, 14, 20, on both sides of the creek, and embracing most of the land within the present village of Fredonia. In 1804, he built a cabin, which he occupied in the spring of 1805, when David Eason and Low Miniger also made their settlements there. He and they sold their lands about the same time ; and all moved to Westfield. McClintock, for several years,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 313Read the page →
Read the text
Fredonia State Normal School — In a sense, the history of the Fredonia State Normal School begins with the Fredonia Academy which, chartered in 1824, was the first institution of its kind to be established in Chautauqua county. This school maintained a high standard of efficiency for many years, but when in the State at large the Union Free Schools were absorbing the academies, the leading citizens of Fredonia con-
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
Fredonia, 1867 to 1989
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 Fredonia post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fredonia rank for history?
Fredonia is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #209 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 Fredonia?
3 listings: 1 historic district, the Middlesex Gardens Apartment Complex,. 22 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fredonia?
43% of Fredonia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (24), 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), 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.
![Thomas McClintock was bom in Northumberland Co., Pa., in 1768, and emigrated to Erie Co., Pa., in 1798 or 1799. In December, 1803, he located land at Canadaway [Fredonia.] He subsequently articled lots or parts of lots 8, 14, 20, on both sides of the creek, and embracing most of the land within the…](https://images.townratings.com/story/11860/bk-80b22ab65a5b6849-l.jpg)
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