Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ghent dates its founding to 1818 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
Ghent was named after the Treaty of Ghent.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ghent is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #267 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.
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 Ghent’s 34.2 sits near the middle of its state (63% of New York towns have fewer) while its 18 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
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 Ghent’s history is told.
Ghent’s post office has been open since 1825. Two other post offices 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).
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ghent.
Around 1735, early settlers, exploiting areas cleared by the natives, moved into the area. In 1818, the town of Ghent was founded from parts of the towns of Chatham, Claverack and Kinderhook. It was named after the Treaty of Ghent.
Located at Ghent is the historic Van Valkenburgh-Isbister Farm, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ghent, cut from the printed page as they were published.
has easy grades in town, and a well-ballasted road-bed The New York and Harlem railroad enters the town from Hillsdale, near the southeast corner, and has a northwesterly direction into the town of Ghent, where it converges with the former railroad. On the line there are stations at Philmont and Martindale, in the town of Claverack.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Ghent was erected in compliance with an act of the Senate and Assembly, passed April 3, 1818, which provided " that from and after the passing of this act, such parts of the towns of Claverack, Kinderhook, and Chatham a-s are contained in the following bounds — beginning at the northwest corner of the town of Hillsdale, and running from thence southerly along the division line between Claverack and Hillsdale to the road opposite the
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJohn Peter Van Ness is born here
Born hereLouis F. Payn is born here
BuiltBartlett House is built
In the archiveGhent (Township)
BuiltUnion Station is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereKristanna Loken is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ghent. 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 Ghent.
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 Ghent’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 2,293 and 5,402 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ghent’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1818, according to Wikidata. Ghent’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1820 counted 2,379 people here.
Ghent is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #267 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.
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Union Station (listed 1974, the first). 18 historic buildings in all.
30% of Ghent’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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