Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 101 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1850.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Genesee Falls’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Genesee Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Genesee Falls.
From Wikipedia’s history of Genesee Falls.
The Town of Genesee Falls was established in 1846. The town was created from part of the Town of Pike and from part of the Town of Portage in Livingston County, New York.
In 1876 a violent tornado struck Portageville, destroying buildings and injuring inhabitants.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGenesee Falls
In the archiveGenesee Valley Stone Quarry, South of Portageville, New York
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltLetchworth State Park is built
In the archiveGeneseeCoalDock13 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Genesee Falls’ page.
Retake this view · +15Between 397 and 1,322 people in every census since 1850.
17 censuses, 1850–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Genesee Falls’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Genesee Falls itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Portage, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Two places: the Letchworth State Park (listed 2005) and the First Universalist Church of Portageville (2008).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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