4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1830.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gallatin is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gallatin’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 Gallatin’s 54.0 sits above most of its state (69% of New York towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Gallatin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region was part of Livingston Manor. The town was formed in 1830 from part of the town of Ancram. It is named for Albert Gallatin. It is one of five towns in the Roe Jan region and was the largest settlement in the early Roe Jan towns with a railroad station, a hotel, stores, a grist mill, a plaster mill, two blacksmith shops, a post office, and about a dozen houses by the 19th century.
Passages that mention Gallatin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1878 · page 411Read the page →
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Gallatin was formerly a part of the Livingston manor. This town was first settled in the latter part of the seventeenth century by emigrants from Holland and Germany.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1878 · page 416Read the page →
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The town of Gallatin was fully awake to the importance of the questions of principle and policy involved in the war waged for the suppression of the Rebellion, and contributed liberally of its means, and promptly furnished its full quota of troops, in order that the integrity of the nation should be maintained, and the union of the States remain unbroken. Through the first three years of the war, no action by the town itself was had, the efforts being put
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
Gallatin, 1839 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Gallatin is more historic than 89% 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 Gallatin?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Melius-Bentley House (listed 1982, the first), and 1 historic district, the Gallatin Reformed Church & Cemetery, with 3 contributing buildings. 9 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Gallatin?
26% of Gallatin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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 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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