The story
Read it all →How Horicon came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Horicon.
The town was formed in 1838 from parts of the towns of Hague and Bolton.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Horicon
Horicon dates to 1800, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Heintzelman Library. Below: maps from 1986 on and the census since 1840.
1800founded
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Horicon began
When was Horicon founded?
1800
Horicon dates its founding to 1800 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
First census: 659 in 18402020 census: 1,471226 years
How historic is Horicon?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1839.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Horicon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Horicon is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Horicon’s overall grade.
Founding era1800, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194020.3% of homes (±4.2) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 5.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 73%
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 Horicon’s 5.9 sits near the middle of its state (38% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1800.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points).
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 Horicon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Horicon’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Horicon’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Horicon had its own post office from 1839 to 1934. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Horicon
Mill Brook
Adirondack
Brant Lake
Elbow
South Horicon
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AdirondackBrant LakeSouth Horicon
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Horicon
Brant LakePittUnderwood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Horicon, 1800 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1800FoundingHoricon is established
- 1839Post officeThe Horicon post office opens
- 1851Post officeThe Mill Brook post office opens
- 1864Post officeThe Mill Brook post office closes
- 1872Post officeThe Adirondack post office opens
- 1875Born hereRichard J. Bolton is born here
- 20th century
- 1934Post officeThe Horicon post office closes
- 1986
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Horicon, decade by decade
2021
2021
2021
2021
2021
2009On the map
Horicon on the map in 1986
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Horicon.
1986Ticonderoga sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Horicon.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Horicon
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2017
Heintzelman Library
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Horicon, census by census
Between 659 and 1,633 people in every census since 1840.
18 censuses, 1840–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Horicon’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Horicon’s history
What year was Horicon founded?
In 1800, according to Wikidata. Horicon’s post office opened in 1839, and the census of 1840 counted 659 people here.
How does Horicon rank for history?
Horicon is more historic than 73% 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 Horicon?
One place: the Heintzelman Library (listed 2017).
How old are the homes in Horicon?
20% of Horicon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1972.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.