Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #17 of 758 in New York. What drives it
46 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 77 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1850.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrietstown is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #17 of 758 in New York. All 2 inputs put Harrietstown near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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 Harrietstown’s 253 sits above most of its state (85% of New York towns have fewer) while its 132 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nine 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 Harrietstown’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Harrietstown.
The area around Saranac Lake was first settled circa 1819. Harrietstown was formed from the town of Duane in 1841. At the end of the 19th century, it became the location for sanatoria for the treatment of lung diseases, taking advantage of the clear mountain air.
By 1900, the area became a tourist area, assisted by the winter carnivals begun in 1898.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Franklin County - Harrietstown - ED 17…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltAmes Cottage is built
BuiltStonaker Cottage is built
BuiltHotel Saranac is built
BuiltChester Valentine House is builtOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harrietstown. 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 Harrietstown.
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 Harrietstown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 181 and 6,856 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harrietstown’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Harrietstown itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Harrietstown is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #17 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.
46 listings: 42 buildings and 4 historic districts with 77 contributing buildings. 132 historic buildings in all.
51% of Harrietstown’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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (46), Wikipedia, 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.
2023
2007
