Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #232 of 758 in New York. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1820.
Hamburg dates its founding to 1812 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamburg is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #232 of 758 in New York. 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 Hamburg’s 63.3 sits above most of its state (71% of New York towns have fewer) while its 62 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% 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.
Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1870, then grew more than tenfold.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hamburg’s Wikipedia page.
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 2 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hamburg. 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 Hamburg.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hamburg.
Historical evidence shows the area was settled originally by the Erie people. Around 1805 the settlement was known as "Barkerville", named after Zenas Barker, the postmaster. The earliest invaders were Nathaniel Titus and Dr. Ruth Belden in 1804, and the first landowner in the area was John Cummings, who built the first grist mill in 1806.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hamburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
March 20, 1812, the Town of Willink was divided into four towns — Willink, Hamburg, Eden and Concord. The Town of Willink then comprised the Towns of Aurora, Wales, Holland and Colden. The Town of Hamburg comprised the present Towns of Hamburg and East Hamburg. The To\\n of Eden comprised the present Towns of Eden, Evans and Boston.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
with wooden gearing and had a capacity of grinding only from five to six bushels of corn per day. This mill was located on a small stream in the Town of East Hamburg. The following year, John Cummings erected a grist mill on the Eighteen- Mile creek, a mile or so below Water Valley, in the Town of Hamburg. This was the first mill built, that did a general business of grinding, south of the Reservation.
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 hereEugene Asa Carr is born here
In the archiveWatertown (Village); Watertown Business Directory
In the archiveBeekmanville (Village); City (Village); Green Haven (Village); Pouquag (Village); New Ham…
In the archiveEast Hamburg (Township)
In the archiveThe Hamburg Trolley
In the archiveFirst trolley car
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereE. Howard Hunt is born here
Born hereNina G. Jablonski is born here
Born hereChristine Devine is born here5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1864Watertown (Village); Watertown Business Directory
1866Abbotts Corners (Village); Abbotts Corners Business D…1876Beekmanville (Village); City (Village); Green Haven (…1880East Hamburg (Township)
1880Hamburg (Village)
1880Residence of Capt. B.K. Buxton, Town of Hamburg; Bral…
1880Residence of Ira C. Woodward.; Woodward and Churchill…
1880Residence of Mrs. A. K. Dart, Hamburg.; Residence of …
1880Water Valley (Village); Griffins Mills (Village); Abb…
1880West Falls (Village); East Hamburg (Village)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 Hamburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1812, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hamburg’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1820 counted 2,034 people here.
Hamburg is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #232 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.
28% of Hamburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1900