Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Homer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Homer is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #50 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.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Homer’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 Homer’s 575 sits above most of its state (93% of New York towns have fewer) while its 179 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% 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 (±11.8 points). Two sources give 1794.
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 →
What stands out about Homer’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region was part of the Central New York Military Tract, from which the cash-poor New York government granted land to soldiers of the American Revolution to pay them for their service. "Homer" was the name of one of the townships in the Military Tract, this name being assigned by the state surveyor's office.
The area was settled in 1791. The Town of Homer was established when Onondaga County was formed in 1794. Cortland County was subsequently formed from Onondaga County in 1808.
In 1835, the village of Homer set itself off from the town by incorporation.
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the map
Homer on the map, 1903 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Homer. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Cortland 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 Homer.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Homer in 1907
Passages that mention Homer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A short history of Greek literature from Homer to Julian1907 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
most famous epic of the Boeotian saga. According to Pausanias, Callinus, the elegiac poet, whose date falls xhe about the middle of the seventh century, assigned the Thebais Thebais to Homer. This, though indirect, is the earliest reference to Homer that can be traced.* It shows at any rate that, in the seventh century, the phrase 'Ofi-qpLKo. iirrj, or ' Homer ' had a wider range of definition than merely the I/iad and Odyssey. This was equally true a century later, and the ' recension of Peisistratus '
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A short history of Greek literature from Homer to Julian1907 · page 57Read the page →
Read the text
Homer had more than once hinted at the degeneration xhe of man, but Hesiod is bitter where Homer was re- Five Ages signed. In the Golden Age there was no need of toil, and when men died they became daemons, heavenly guardians of men. In the Silver Age sin begins, but is negative ; a feebler race condemned to a long childhood and brief maturity displayed pride and neglected the gods ; after death they were buried deep under ground. With the Bronze Age positive wickedness began ; it
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
Homer, 1794 to 1933
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
In 1794, according to Wikidata. Homer’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1820 counted 5,504 people here.
How does Homer rank for history?
Homer is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #50 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.
How old are the homes in Homer?
51% of Homer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (18), 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.
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