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A+History
History · Honeoye Falls

Honeoye Falls dates to 1791, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #87 of 758 in New York. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1870.

1791founded
4on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bill Blevins from Fairport, NY, USA · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Honeoye Falls began

When was Honeoye Falls founded?

1791

Honeoye Falls dates its founding to 1791 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 921 in 18702020 census: 2,706235 years

How historic is Honeoye Falls?

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: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Honeoye Falls’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Honeoye Falls is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #87 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Honeoye Falls’ overall grade.
Founding era1791, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194033.9% of homes (±5.1) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register4 listings, 218 historic buildings, 788 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 of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 89%

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 Honeoye Falls’ 788 sits above most of its state (94% of New York towns have fewer) while its 218 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1791.

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 Honeoye Falls’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Honeoye Falls are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19015 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1971. Watch Honeoye Falls change.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1911, drew every building in Honeoye Falls.Deep rootsEstablished in 1791: 235 years of Honeoye Falls.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Honeoye Falls’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Honeoye Falls on the map, 1901 to 1971

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

Honeoye Falls on the 1901 USGS mapHoneoye Falls on the 1934 USGS mapHoneoye Falls on the 1942 USGS mapHoneoye Falls on the 1951 USGS mapHoneoye Falls on the 1971 USGS map1901Honeoye 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 Honeoye Falls.

Every building

Honeoye Falls, building by building, 1884–1911

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.

Honeoye Falls fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 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 Honeoye Falls came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Honeoye Falls.

Read it all →

The village was founded in 1791 by Zebulon Norton when he purchased 1,820 acres (7.4 km2) of land for the price of 12½ cents per acre. He built a grist mill and later a sawmill at a waterfall on Honeoye Creek. The area was originally known as "Norton Mills". In 1827, Hiram Finch built a second mill, which would come to be called the Lower Mill to differentiate it from the earlier mill.

Honeoye Falls experienced an epidemic of scarlet fever in April 1893.

On May 17, 1973, the Lower Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Honeoye Falls Village Historic District, St. John's Episcopal Church, Totiakton Site, and United States Post Office are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Honeoye Falls, 1791 to 1977

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1791
    FoundingHoneoye Falls is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1854Born hereDavid Francis Barry is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1935Born hereTruddi Chase is born here
  8. 1977Born hereMarty Reasoner is born here
By decade

Honeoye Falls, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu…2010Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alej…Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu… (4)2010Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alej…Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu… (2)2010Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alej…Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu… (1)2010Honeoye Falls, NY 14472, USA - panoramio - Mario Alej…Honeoye Falls - Lower Mill2010Honeoye Falls - Lower MillHoneoye Falls - Episcopal Church2010Honeoye Falls - Episcopal ChurchGODZCAMERA MARIO ALEJANDRO CAVUOTO MADRID2010GODZCAMERA MARIO ALEJANDRO CAVUOTO MADRIDGODZCAMERA MARIO ALEJANDRO CAVUOTO MADRID - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu…2010GODZCAMERA MARIO ALEJANDRO CAVUOTO MADRID - panoramio…BREWCRAFTERS2010BREWCRAFTERSBREWCRAFTERS - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu…2010BREWCRAFTERS - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu…BREWCRAFTERS - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu… (1)2010BREWCRAFTERS - panoramio - Mario Alejandro Cavu… (1)Untitled photo2009Untitled photo
On the National Register

4 listings protect 218 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
218
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

Honeoye Falls, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000188019001920194019601980200020202,706

Grew from 921 people in 1870 to 2,706 in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Honeoye Falls

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

See all →
Marty ReasonerAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1977
T
Truddi ChaseAmerican writer · b. 1935
David Francis BarryAmerican photographer · b. 1854
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lima33 historic placesA

Questions about Honeoye Falls’ history

What year was Honeoye Falls founded?

In 1791, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Honeoye Falls’ post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1870 counted 921 people here.

How does Honeoye Falls rank for history?

Honeoye Falls is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #87 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 Honeoye Falls?

34% of Honeoye Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1965.

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 (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.