Hector’s post office opened in 1802, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #415 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Logan Methodist Church and the First Presbyterian Church of Hector. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1820.
The Hector post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name. Eight smaller post offices, Hector Falls (1825), Reynoldsville (1827) and Logan (1828), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 4,012 in 18202020 census: 4,895224 years
How historic is Hector?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hector post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hector’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hector is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #415 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 National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hector’s overall grade.
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 Hector’s 6.2 sits near the middle of its state (38% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Hector’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region became part of the Central New York Military Tract, land used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution.
The area was first settled around 1790, but the first permanent settler arrived in 1791.
The town of Hector was formed in Cayuga County in 1802 from part of the town of Ovid. However, Hector (including the hamlet of Reynoldsville) was part of the adjacent Seneca County from 1804 to 1817. Hector became part of Tompkins County when the county was created in 1817, and then became part of Schuyler County in 1854 in the part contributed by Tompkins County.
The First Presbyterian Church of Hector was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Hector post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hector rank for history?
Hector is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #415 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.
What is on the National Register in Hector?
Two places: the Logan Methodist Church (listed 2001) and the First Presbyterian Church of Hector (2001).
How old are the homes in Hector?
26% of Hector’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (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) 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.
2011
2011
2011
2009
