Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #431 of 758 in New York. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1820.
Greenville dates its founding to 1774 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #431 of 758 in New York. All 2 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 Greenville’s 37.2 sits near the middle of its state (64% of New York towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Greenville’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1930, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenville’s Wikipedia page.
Greenville’s post office has been open since 1812. Two 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 Greenville.
The area of the town was first settled circa 1774. The town was established in 1803 as "Greenfield" from the towns of Coxsackie and Durham. The adjoining town is "Freehold", just south of Greenville.
In 1810, the Greenville town population was 2,300, but by 1900 that figure had fallen to 1,362.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Greenville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
better suited at having paid ten dollars for the military covering of his caput instead of five. , There is an old tradition current among the legends of Minisink and Greenville, that Joseph Brandt in order to acquaint himself with the state of affairs in the Minisink neighborhood, paid it a visit in secret, some time before his second invasion, and remained concealed in a swamp in the present town of Greenville, nearly a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
village of Middletown is said to be built on what was part of his farm, portions of which he donated for church and educational purposes. The first who came to this section located in what is now the town of Greenville, some time during the Revolutionary war. If we are informed rightly it was the "svife of Daniel Green who met with an exciting adventure with the Indians during Brandt's last invasion of the Minisink Region. Her
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.
BuiltBenjamin Ten Broeck House is built
Born hereEliakim Sherrill is born here
Born hereEdwin Drake is born here
BuiltGreenville Presbyterian Church Complex is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenville. 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 Greenville.
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.
1903Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1774, according to Wikidata. Greenville’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1820 counted 2,374 people here.
Greenville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #431 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.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Prevost Manor House (listed 1972, the first), and 1 historic district, the Stevens Hill Farm, with 5 contributing buildings. 14 historic buildings in all.
17% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.
