On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Horseheads is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #319 of 758 in New York. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Horseheads’ 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 Horseheads’ 89.9 sits above most of its state (74% of New York towns have fewer) while its 58 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Horseheads’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Horseheads. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Elmira 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 Horseheads.
Every building
Horseheads, building by building, 1886–1914
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.
On September 1, 1779, General George Washington and Nickolas Steven Webb ordered the forces of General John Sullivan to march north on a 450-mile (720 km) journey through a wooded wilderness from Easton, Pennsylvania, over to Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and on up the Susquehanna River to Newtown (Elmira) to mount a raid on Iroquois, then allied with the British. They continued north through what is now known as Horseheads to the Finger Lakes region and west to Geneseo. Devastating the already weakened Iroquois, Sullivan's troops retreated back along the same route.
Passages that mention Horseheads, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A brief history of Chemung county, New York1907 · page 32Read the page →
Read the text
Baptist preachers came to Horseheads as early as 1805. In 1827 a church was erected about two miles north of the village. About April 22, 1840; a church was organized which in the latter part of the year united with the Elmira organization and was known as ''The Elmira and Fairport Church."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A brief history of Chemung county, New York1907 · page 73Read the page →
Read the text
and sometimes oftener for public worship. »« During this period Elmira had a great increase in the number of her churches. The First Presby- 9«In Breesport, in the town of Horseheads, there are four churches, a Presbyterian church, built in 1875, a Methodist church, built in 1880, a Methodist Protestant Church, built in 1855, and a Baptist Church, built in 1856.
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
Horseheads, 1883 to 1989
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.
Horseheads is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #319 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 Horseheads?
19% of Horseheads’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1958.
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), 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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1968
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2003