The Highland post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Lumberland (1831) and Minisink Ford (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 993 in 18602020 census: 2,196172 years
How historic is Highland?
B+
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Highland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Highland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Highland is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Highland’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 Highland’s 17.9 sits near the middle of its state (55% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Highland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was formed from the Town of Lumberland in 1853. Barryville is named for William T. Barry, postmaster general under President Andrew Jackson. The community grew up around the Delaware and Hudson Canal, which opened in 1828 and operated until 1898. The canal ran through what is today the center of the hamlet, and the canal company operated a number of stores, an office and a dry dock there.
Jacob M. Grim, a civil war veteran with the rank of first lieutenant, and a substantial farmer, belongs to a family which has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests of Highland county since 1820. In that year his father, Peter Grim, came from Rockbridge county, Virginia, and settled in Highland county, where he became a popular and influential citizen. He married Mary, daughter of John Walker, an Irishman by birth who also came to Ohio from Virginia and was one of the first settlers of Highland
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ent township of Madison. From this beginning a church was organized which took the name of Rocky Spring, in memory, says one, of Rocky Spring in Pennsylvania, from which John Wilson came who named it. This was the first Presbyterian church in Highland county and embraced at first all the Greenfield and Fall Creek settlements. The first pastor of this church was Rev. ^N'ichols Pittinger, who came from Pennsylvania on a visit to the county with a view to a permanent settlement, in 1809, and in 1810 moved into
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.
Timeline
Highland, 1831 to 1922
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Highland post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Highland rank for history?
Highland is more historic than 66% 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.
What is on the National Register in Highland?
4 listings: 2 buildings and 1 site.
How old are the homes in Highland?
26% of Highland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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