The Hopewell post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Chapinville (1832), Hopewell Centre (1855) and Chapin (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,202 in 18302020 census: 3,931203 years
How historic is Hopewell?
B−
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hopewell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hopewell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hopewell is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #671 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hopewell’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 Hopewell’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 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 Hopewell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Hopewell had its own post office from 1823 to 1904. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hopewell
1823–1904
Chapinville
1832–1908
Hopewell Centre
1855–1902
Chapin
1908–1958
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Aldrich Trailer ParkAloquinChapinEnnerdaleHopewell CenterLittlevilleThomas Estates Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
School Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 9school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hopewell
BenhanBuchanChapmanCounty HomeDillonHopewellMoore
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Hopewell’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hopewell’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Significant portions of this section is sourced from Conover, Chapter XXV.
The Seneca Indian village of Onnaghee (or Onaghee, aka Snyder-McClure village) was located in Hopewell. It was abandoned sometime before 1750, and the former residents likely founded the newer village at Canandaigua.
Settled beginning in 1789, the town of Hopewell, New York, was originally part of a tract of land first called "District of Easton" and then "Lincoln" and was part of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788.
Passages that mention Hopewell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ontario county, New York1893 · page 422Read the page →
Read the text
northeasterly from the lake, at a place on the outlet now called Littleville, that sufficient power for a grist-mill could be obtained, and this place was chosen for the pioneer mill. It is on the north bounds of the town of Hopewell adjoining the town of Manchester and about a mile south from Shortsville. Here Oliver Phelps erected a grist-mill in 1791 which was known as the Phelps Mill. Although but a crude and pigmy affair, it answered the purpose for some time, and the pioneer settlers came from long distances to get their grists ground. Samuel Day was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ontario county, New York1893 · page 349Read the page →
Read the text
electric power station, form which point it is proposed to furnish electric lights for Clifton Springs, Shortsville and Canandaigua, and also to furnish power for the electric cars in the last mentioned village. A further account of this place may be found in the history of the town of Hopewell. Gypsum is the name of a small hamlet situate on the line between Manchester and Phelps, and about two miles north of Clifton Springs. In this locality Pioneer Van Derhoof settled, followed by other Dutch families, from which fact the place or vicinity was originally called the
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
Hopewell, 1823 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Hopewell post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hopewell rank for history?
Hopewell is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #671 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 Hopewell?
14% of Hopewell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 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), 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.
