Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #293 of 758 in New York. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Historic Track, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 110 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.
Goshen dates its founding to 1788 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Goshen is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #293 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Goshen’s 84.3 sits above most of its state (73% of New York towns have fewer) while its 122 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Goshen’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Goshen’s post office has been open since 1792. Three 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Goshen.
European settlement began around 1714, although plans for this were made beginning about 1654. The town was established in 1788, after the American Revolutionary War and New York becoming a state. As population increased in the area, in 1830, part of Goshen was divided off to form the new Town of Hamptonburgh. In 1845, another part was used to form the Town of Chester.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Goshen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
After reaching his majority, until 1854, he carried on farming in Vernon, Bergen County, Wantage, and a second time in Vernon, N. J., when he purchased five hundred acres of land in the town of Goshen, a part of which he subsequently sold. In 1856 he purchased his present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, located within the corporate limits of the village of Goshen.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1763, Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Golden appealed to the General Assembly for troops to relieve the militia on the borders of Orange and Ulster which were infested by the enemy. At this time the town of Goshen extended from the Hudson to New Jersey. In 1764 a bill was passed dividing the precinct of Goshen into two precincts, to be called Goshen and Cornwall. After this division Cornwall embraced the present towns of Cornwall, Monroe and Blooming Grove, while Goshen included the present town of Warwick.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
through the town of Wallkill, to the town of Goshen, and thence to the village of Goshen. An example of the enterprise of the tov.-n of Wallkill was manifested when the question of raising money for the construction of the Xew York & Oswego Midland Railroad came up in 1867. Its citizens, under the wise leadership and giiided by the excellent judgment of Senator Henry R. Low, Captain James N. Pronk, Elislia P. Wheeler, William J.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The meetings of the society were for a series of years held annually, the first having been convened at Goshen in 1806. As the organization increased in numbers and influence, the importance of more frequent conferences became apparent, and semi-annual meetings were instituted, the first of which was appointed at the house of Dr. Daniel Seward, in the village of Goshen, on the first day of July, 1817. They
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.
BuiltRandel, Culver House and Mill is builtBuilt1841 Goshen Courthouse is built
Born hereWillie "The Lion" Smith is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereVirginia Vincent is born hereBuiltUS Post Office-Goshen is built
In the archiveBroadlea School
Born hereHartley Sawyer is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Goshen. 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 Goshen.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Goshen’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 2,448 people in 1790 to 14,571 in 2020, 5 times over.
22 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Goshen’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 1788, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Goshen’s post office opened in 1792, and the first U.S. census counted 2,448 people here in 1790.
Goshen is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #293 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.
10 listings: 8 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Historic Track and the Church Park Historic District, with 110 contributing buildings. 122 historic buildings in all.
20% of Goshen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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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