Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: old-book passages.
The Greenwich post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenwich is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age 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 Greenwich’s 977 sits above most of its state (96% of New York towns have fewer) while its 165 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greenwich’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Greenwich yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1808. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,777 to 1,651 (-7%).
Passages that mention Greenwich, cut from the printed page as they were published.
George Cartaret, against which the associates set up their title derived from the Indians. In this disturbed state of affairs, in connection with his purchase at Greenwich in 1672, he had a sufficient motive for a removal from Elizabethtown. His visits to Greenwich to look after his land there led to a call, in 1676, by the people of that town to settle with them in the ministry, which, however, was not
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At a Town meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Greenwich, holden in the Town House of said Greenwich, on Monday the 19th day of December, 1778, having made a choice of Bezaleel Brown for Moderator, and Jabez Fitch for Clerk, the meeting adjourned to the Meeting House. This meeting taking into serious consideration the danger & distress of the inhabitants of this town, and the great
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.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Greenwich itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Greenwich post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Greenwich is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. 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.
74% of Greenwich’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (1) 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.
2021
