The Gorham post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Reed Corners (1841), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 3,991 in 18202020 census: 4,106213 years
How historic is Gorham?
B+
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gorham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gorham’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gorham is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #540 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gorham’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 Gorham’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Gorham’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first buildings in what would become Gorham were constructed in November of 1796, under a charter from Ontario County for "East Town." The town of "Easton" was formally organized on April 7, 1797.
The town changed its name to "Lincoln" in 1806, and adopted the current name, the name of an early proprietor, in 1807. Part of Gorham was taken in 1822 to form the Town of Hopewell. More territory, including the east shore of Canandaigua Lake, was added to Gorham in 1824.
Passages that mention Gorham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ontario county, New York1893 · page 398Read the page →
Read the text
The Village of Riishville. — In point of importance, population and business interests, Rushville stands at the head among the villages of Gorham, and in fact is the only one of those in the town that has acquired a corporate character. Unfortunately, however, for the general good of Ontario county, and particularly the town of Gorham, comparatively little of the corporate territory of Rushville is within this county, the same lying chiefly in Yates county, and taken from the towns of Potter and Middlesex. The Union School district of Rushville never-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ontario county, New York1893 · page 396Read the page →
Read the text
The incorporated village of Rushville is situated in the south part of Gorham, and includes within its corporate limits parts of three towns — Gorham, Potter and Middlesex. Nothing of more than ordinary importance contributed to the early settlement of this loeality, and it was not until a comparatively recent date that railroad communication between this place and the county seat was opened. Ludin Blodget was one of the pioneers of this locality, as also in the same connection may be mentioned the names of Daniel Gates (proprietor of the once famous
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
Gorham, 1813 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 viewDemas Barnes - Brady-Handy, 1860
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gorham’s page.
The Gorham post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gorham rank for history?
Gorham is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #540 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.
How old are the homes in Gorham?
34% of Gorham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 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 (9), 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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