History · Gouverneur

Gouverneur’s post office opened in 1818, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #345 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Its Register listings are the US Post Office-Gouverneur and the First Presbyterian Church Complex. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1820.

1818first post office

2on the National Register

40%homes built before 1940

2old photos & papers

6famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Gouverneur’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Gouverneur began

When was Gouverneur founded?

1818

The Gouverneur post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Cambray (1807), North Gouverneur (1862) and Elmdale (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 765 in 18202020 census: 6,551208 years

How historic is Gouverneur?

More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Gouverneur post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Gouverneur’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gouverneur is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #345 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gouverneur’s overall grade.

Founding era1818, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194039.6% of homes (±9.2) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 4.6 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 85%

NewerOlder

New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 55%

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 Gouverneur’s 4.6 sits below most of its state (34% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±9.2 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 Gouverneur’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Gouverneur, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Gouverneur’s homes were built before 1946.On the map since 19154 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1982. Watch Gouverneur change.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Gouverneur’s post office has been open since 1818. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cambray

1807–1818

Gouverneur

1818–today

North Gouverneur

1862–1862

Elmdale

1890–1907

Natural Dam

1890–1949

18001910today

Hamlets and corners on the map

ElmdaleGouvernor Gardens Mobile Home ParkJolly K Mobile Home ParkLiscums Mobile Home ParkLittle BowNatural DamNorth GouverneurShady Acres Mobile Home Park

Gone or out of use

First Baptist ChurchchurchGouverneur Grammar SchoolschoolGralyn TheatrebuildingGriffith SchoolschoolHi-Way Drive-Inlocale

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Gouverneur

North GouverneurOld Saint JamesRiversideSaint James

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Gouverneur’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gouverneur’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewGouverneur, N.Y: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story

How Gouverneur came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Gouverneur.

Read it all →

The Town of Gouverneur was formed in 1810 from part of the Town of Oswegatchie (previously an area called "Town of Cambria").

Like many other settlements in the county, the town's growth was hindered by the War of 1812, although rapid growth resumed soon after.

In 1850, the community of Gouverneur set itself off from the town by incorporating as a village.

The town economy was based in part on mining marble, talc, and zinc.

The United States Post Office was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Gouverneur, 1807 to 1984

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1807Post officeThe Cambray post office opens
1818Post officeThe Cambray post office closes
1818Post officeThe Gouverneur post office opens
1862Post officeThe North Gouverneur post office opens
1862Post officeThe North Gouverneur post office closes
1864Born hereD. Everett Waid is born here
1882Born hereEdward John Noble is born here
1885In the archiveGouverneur, N.Y
20th century
1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1947Born hereEric Turkington is born here
1984Born hereBrian Leonard is born here

By decade

Gouverneur, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s2 items

1885Gouverneur, N.Y

1885Governeur, N.Y

1890s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Today10 recent

2009Gouverneur, New York

On the map

Gouverneur on the map, 1915 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gouverneur. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1915Gouverneur sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gouverneur.

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 viewGouverneur, N.Y, 1885

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gouverneur’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

2 historic places in Gouverneur

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1989

US Post Office-Gouverneur

Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1

US Post Office-GouverneurColonial Revival

First Presbyterian Church ComplexBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Gouverneur, census by census

Between 765 and 7,418 people in every census since 1820.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gouverneur’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Gouverneur

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Edward John NobleAmerican broadcasting and industrialist · b. 1882

Brian LeonardPlayer of American football · b. 1984

D. Everett WaidAmerican architect · b. 1864

Eric TurkingtonPolitician in Massachusetts, US · b. 1947

Philip J. HanlonPresident of Dartmouth College · b. 1955

James Franklin WileyPolitician · b. 1832

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

MacombIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town RossieIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town De Kalb1 historic placeA⁻FowlerIts storyB HermonIts storyB⁺HailesboroIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town De PeysterIts storyB⁺

Questions about Gouverneur’s history

What year was Gouverneur founded?

The Gouverneur post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Gouverneur rank for history?

Gouverneur is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #345 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 Gouverneur?

Two places: the US Post Office-Gouverneur (listed 1989) and the First Presbyterian Church Complex (2015).

How old are the homes in Gouverneur?

40% of Gouverneur’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1946.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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