Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #678 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1800.
The Greenfield post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Day (1837), Mount Pleasant (1846) and South Greenfield (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
The town is named after Greenfield, New Hampshire.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenfield is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #678 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Greenfield’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Greenfield had its own post office from 1802 to 1834. Five 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greenfield’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1920, then grew 5-fold.
23 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenfield’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Greenfield.
The area was first settled circa 1786, and in 1793, the town was formed from parts of the Milton and Saratoga. Its land area was reduced in 1794 by contributions of some of its territory to the newly formed towns of Day, Corinth, and Hadley.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Greenfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
descent. John Allen, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Allen, was a native of New Bedford, but spent the greater part of his life as a farmer in the town of Greenfield, where he died October 14, 1872, at seventy-one years of age. His son, Charles Allen (father), was born in 1827, in the town of Greenfield, where he lived until he had attained his majority,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Peter Vail Wiggins was born at Southold, Sufiblk Co., L. I., June 23, 1793. He came to Saratoga County about the year 1820, first settling in the town of Greenfield, under the auspices of his uncle, James Vail, but moved to the village of Saratoga Springs, and commenced the mercantile business during the summer of 1822. This business he carried on successfully, and for many years was the principal merchant of the village.
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 hereHenry H. Hathorn is born here
Born hereWilliam Aldrich is born here
Born hereSanford Robinson Gifford is born here
Born hereJohn Fair Stoddard is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenfield. 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 Greenfield.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Greenfield post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Greenfield is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #678 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.
13% of Greenfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (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), 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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