The Glenville post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Scotia (1836), East Glenville (1840) and Alplaus (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,514 in 18202020 census: 29,326204 years
How historic is Glenville?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Glenville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Glenville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glenville is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #427 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 Glenville’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 Glenville’s 2.7 sits below most of its state (28% of New York towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Glenville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Alplaus SchoolschoolHoffman's SchoolschoolLincoln SchoolschoolMohawk Public SchoolschoolMohawk Valley AirportairportSchool Number 8schoolScotia Junior High SchoolschoolScotia Naval Supply DepotmilitaryWells Seaplane Baseairport
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Glenville
Glenville Center Methodist Episcopal ChurchParkSaint AnthonyVan EpsVedderWeatherwaxWest Glenville Reformed
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Glenville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glenville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Glenville is named after Alexander Lindsay Glen. Glen, who was a native of Scotland, acquired a large tract of land in the area in the 1650s. He named his manor at Scotia after his native country (Glen Sanders Mansion).
The Seeley Farmhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the Swart House and Tavern in 2007, and the Bishop Family Lustron House was listed the following year. The Glenville District No. 5 Schoolhouse was listed in 2013.
Edward Hanigan was born in the town of Glenville, Schenectady County, N. Y., October 30, 1861, and is the son of Thomas and Harriet (Levalley) Hanigan. He was educated in the district schools and at the Classical Institute of Schenectady, after which he was farming in the town of Glenville until twenty-six years of age. In 1887 he moved into Schenectady and learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for three years, and then engaged in contracting, which he has since continued.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Henry W. Primmer was born in Schenectady, N. Y., March 5, 1846. He was educated in the town of Glenville, and followed the occnpation of farmer in that town until 1886. In that year he went to Albany and engaged in the produce business for a time, after which he was in the drygoods trade. In 1891 he settled permanently in Schenectady, and engaged in the mercantile business for six years, at the end of which time he retired from active business pursuits.
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
Glenville, 1730 to 1949
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Glenville post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Glenville rank for history?
Glenville is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #427 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 Glenville?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Seeley Farmhouse (listed 1978, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Glenville?
24% of Glenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (10), 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), 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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