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A+History
History · Holley

Holley’s post office opened in 1823, and 55% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1823first post office
2on the National Register
55%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Holley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Holley began

When was Holley founded?

1823

The Holley post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,018 in 18802020 census: 1,754203 years

How historic is Holley?

A+

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Holley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Holley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holley is more historic than 97% 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.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Holley’s overall grade.
Founding era1823, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194054.5% of homes (±8.4) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register2 listings, 42 historic buildings, 218 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 97%
NewerOlder

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 Holley’s 218 sits above most of its state (83% of New York towns have fewer) while its 42 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.4 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 Holley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18973 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1950. Watch Holley change.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1914, drew every building in Holley.Old housesHalf of Holley’s homes were built before 1938.Deep rootsA post office since 1823: 203 years of Holley.
★ What stands out · On the map

Holley on the map, 1897 to 1950

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Holley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Holley on the 1897 USGS mapHolley on the 1944 USGS mapHolley on the 1950 USGS map1897Albion sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Holley.

Every building

Holley, building by building, 1885–1914

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.

Holley fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Holley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Holley.

Read it all →

The village of Holley was incorporated in 1850. Originally named Saltport, the name was changed to honor Myron Holley, a commissioner of the Erie Canal.

In 2002, a major chemical spill known as the Diaz pipeline incident occurred at the Diaz chemical production plant after a pipeline from a reactor vessel bursted, contaminating 31,000 tons of concrete and scrap metal as well as multiple houses, temporarily rendering Holley a ghost town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Holley in 1871

Passages that mention Holley, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The first school house in the village of Holley was made of logs, about th^ year 1815, and stood not fai' from the present railroad depot. It had no arrangements for making a fire in it, and was used for a school only in the summer, for several years. The first teacher in this school was Lydia Thom…
Pioneer history of Orleans County, New York1871Read the page →
Read the text

The first school house in the village of Holley was made of logs, about th^ year 1815, and stood not fai' from the present railroad depot. It had no arrangements for making a fire in it, and was used for a school only in the summer, for several years. The first teacher in this school was Lydia Thomas, afterwards Mrs. Henry Hill.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ral years, when Pierpont sold out the whole business to Mr. Frisbie, who managed it all alone several years, until the insolvency of some leading merchants in Holley made an opening for his business there, lie then closed out in Clarendon and moved to Holley to reside about the year 1828 or 1829.
Pioneer history of Orleans County, New York1871Read the page →
Read the text

ral years, when Pierpont sold out the whole business to Mr. Frisbie, who managed it all alone several years, until the insolvency of some leading merchants in Holley made an opening for his business there, lie then closed out in Clarendon and moved to Holley to reside about the year 1828 or 1829.

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

Holley, 1828 to 1906

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Born hereWilliam W. Blair is born here
  3. 1840Born hereGeorge D. Perkins is born here
  4. 1875In the archiveHolley Business Notices.; Holley (Village)
  5. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906In the archiveErie Canal
By decade

Holley, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1900s4 items
Holley Business Notices.; Holley (Village)1875Holley Business Notices.; Holley (Village)Erie Canal1906Erie CanalSandy Creek1906Sandy CreekN.Y.C. & H.R.R.R.[New York Central and Hudson River Railroad]1906N.Y.C. & H.R.R.R.[New York Central and Hudson River R…
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Leake, A.L., 1901-1909 (Holley, New York) [ANS Chapman brothers business correspondence]Date?Leake, A.L., 1901-1909 (Holley, New York) [ANS Chapma…Book
Today8 recent
OldHolleyHighSchool2018OldHolleyHighSchoolHolleyNewYorkPetunias2018HolleyNewYorkPetuniasHillside Cemetery Marker2017Hillside Cemetery MarkerHillside Cemetery Chapel - West Side2017Hillside Cemetery Chapel - West SideHillside Cemetery Chapel - North Side2017Hillside Cemetery Chapel - North SideHillside Cemetery Chapel - East Side2017Hillside Cemetery Chapel - East SidePodunk sign in2010Podunk sign inFormer First Methodist Episcopal Church Holley NY Oct 092009Former First Methodist Episcopal Church Holley NY Oct…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Holley Business Notices.; Holley (Village)
Retake this viewHolley Business Notices.; Holley (Village), 1875

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Holley’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 42 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
42
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Holley, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,890

Between 1,018 and 1,890 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Holley’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Holley

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
George D. PerkinsAmerican politician, Iowa · b. 1840
William W. BlairMember of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Chris… · b. 1828
Help out

Start Holley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Holley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHolley Business Notices.; Holley (Villa…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Murray3 historic placesA+Clarendon2 historic placesA−

Questions about Holley’s history

What year was Holley founded?

The Holley post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Holley rank for history?

Holley is more historic than 97% 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.

How old are the homes in Holley?

55% of Holley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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), Wikidata (1), 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.