Hunter’s post office opened in 1818, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #138 of 758 in New York. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 297 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1820.
The Hunter post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Platt Clove (1875), Edgewood (1881) and Kaaterskill (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,025 in 18202020 census: 3,035208 years
How historic is Hunter?
A+
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Hunter post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hunter’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hunter is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #138 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 Hunter’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 Hunter’s 1,026 sits above most of its state (96% of New York towns have fewer) while its 312 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% 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 (±6.1 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 Hunter’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was formed on January 27, 1813, from the town of Windham, but was then called "Edwardsville". The name of "Hunter" was assumed in 1814, named after John Hunter. Afterwards, the town lost some territory to Saugerties in 1814 and to Jewett in 1849.
The area became a popular tourism destination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was served by the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, which brought tourists to resort towns throughout the Catskill Mountains.
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.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewHunter, N.Y, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hunter’s page.
The Hunter post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hunter rank for history?
Hunter is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #138 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.
What is on the National Register in Hunter?
16 listings: 10 buildings, 4 historic districts with 297 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 object. 312 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hunter?
27% of Hunter’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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, 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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