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History · Freeville

Freeville dates to 1798, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.

1798founded
0on the National Register
45%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Freeville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Freeville began

When was Freeville founded?

1798

Freeville dates its founding to 1798 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 312 in 18902020 census: 498228 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓

What stands out about Freeville’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18984 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1970. Watch Freeville change.Boom and bustPeaked at 664 in 1970; 498 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1798: 228 years of Freeville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Freeville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freeville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBuildings in the George Junior Republic…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Freeville on the map, 1898 to 1970

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

Freeville on the 1898 USGS mapFreeville on the 1902 USGS mapFreeville on the 1942 USGS mapFreeville on the 1970 USGS map1898Moravia 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 Freeville.

People over time

Freeville, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 664

Peaked at 664 in 1970; 498 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Freeville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Freeville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Freeville.

Read it all →

Freeville was in the former Central New York Military Tract. It was first settled by Daniel White, a Revolutionary War soldier who cleared land along Fall Creek and built a cabin there around 1798; by 1802 White had established a grist mill at the site.

In the early 1870s, Freeville was transformed from a quiet mill town into an important regional railroad junction when the Southern Central Railroad and the Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad (acquired in 1884 by the newly created Elmira, Cortland and Northern Railroad) extended their lines through the village. Both lines were acquired in the mid-1890s by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which maintained passenger service at Freeville through the 1930s and freight service until the 1970s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Freeville, 1798 to 1977

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1798
    FoundingFreeville is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904In the archiveBuildings in the George Junior Republic retouched
  7. 1959Born hereAmy Dickinson is born here
  8. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 664
  9. 1977In the archiveEntwurf für Freeville, Upstate New York
By decade

Freeville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Buildings in the George Junior Republic retouched1904Buildings in the George Junior Republic retouchedBuildings in the George Junior Republic1904Buildings in the George Junior Republic
1910s–1960snothing 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
1970s2 items
Entwurf für Freeville, Upstate New York1977Entwurf für Freeville, Upstate New YorkFreeville Project, Peter Riemann, Cornell 19771977Freeville Project, Peter Riemann, Cornell 1977
1980s–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
Today2 recent
OstryaVirginiana12011OstryaVirginiana1Untitled photo2008Untitled photo
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.

Buildings in the George Junior Republic retouched
Retake this viewBuildings in the George Junior Republic retouched, 1904

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Freeville’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Freeville’s history

What year was Freeville founded?

In 1798, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Freeville’s post office opened in 1864, and the census of 1890 counted 312 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.