5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1820.
The Germantown post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, North Germantown (1876), East Camp (1881) and Cheviot (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 891 in 18202020 census: 1,936201 years
How historic is Germantown?
A
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Germantown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Germantown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Germantown is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. 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 Germantown’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 Germantown’s 53.5 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Germantown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 area currently known as Germantown was originally occupied by the Mohican people. In the early eighteenth century, Hendrick Aupaumut recorded the movement of his people who had settled along the rivers that would later be named the Delaware and Hudson. Those who had continued north settled in the valley of the river they named the Mahicannituck (today's Hudson River), meaning 'the Waters That Are Never Still'. They named themselves the 'Muh-he-con-neok' after the river, a name that eventually evolved to the present day Mohican or Mahican.
The Germantown post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Germantown rank for history?
Germantown is more historic than 93% 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 Germantown?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the German Reformed Sanctity Church Parsonage (listed 1976, the first), and 1 historic district, the Charles H. Coons Farm, with 4 contributing buildings. 9 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Germantown?
39% of Germantown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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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