German Flatts dates to 1788, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #256 of 758 in New York. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1795.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives German Flatts’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, German Flatts is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #256 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 German Flatts’ 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 German Flatts’ 9.1 sits near the middle of its state (44% of New York towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1788.
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 (±5.6 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 German Flatts’ 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
German Flatts had its own post office from 1795 to 1832. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
German Flatts
1795–1832
Mohawk
1832–today
Remington
1843–1844
Ilion
1844–today
Dennison's Corners
1845–1851
Denison
1855–1888
Edicks
1888–1905
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Days RockDennison CornersEdicksFitzer Park Mobile Home ParkFort HerkimerIlionLeatherstocking Mobile Home ParkMohawkRockwell Mobile Home ParkSouth Ilion
Gone or out of use
Ilion HospitalhospitalOld Forge SchoolschoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 9school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside German Flatts
This was one of the original areas of the Burnetsfield Patent in the province of New York, where in 1722–1723, Governor William Burnet granted Palatine German immigrants leases to purchase land from the Mohawk, the powerful eastern nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. It was the first land sold to Europeans west of Schenectady. During the 18th-century warfare in the valley, the village was attacked by French and Iroquois forces during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), and many women and children were taken to Canada as captives.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of German Flatts. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Richfield Springs 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 German Flatts.
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.
Retake this viewOld Stone Church, 1851
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on German Flatts’ page.
In 1788, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. German Flatts’ post office opened in 1795, and the census of 1820 counted 2,665 people here.
How does German Flatts rank for history?
German Flatts is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #256 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 German Flatts?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Fort Herkimer Church (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Library Bureau-Remington Rand-Sperry UNIVAC Manufacturing Complex, with 4 contributing buildings. 11 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in German Flatts?
52% of German Flatts’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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) 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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