Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Adirondack Forest Preserve, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1860.
Indian Lake dates its founding to 1858 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Indian Lake is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Indian Lake’s 189 sits above most of its state (82% of New York towns have fewer) while its 24 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Indian Lake’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Indian Lake’s post office has been open since 1862. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Indian Lake.
The town of Indian Lake was established in 1858 from the towns of Gilman (now defunct), Long Lake, and Wells. In 1861, Indian Lake was expanded using territory from the towns of Gilman and Lake Pleasant.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltAdirondack Forest Preserve is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveIndian Lake New York USGS topo map 1897One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Indian Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Indian Lake.
Between 202 and 1,481 people in every census since 1860.
16 censuses, 1860–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Indian Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Indian Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1858, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Indian Lake’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1860 counted 256 people here.
Indian Lake is more historic than 75% 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.
6 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Hedges, The, with 20 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 2 structures. 24 historic buildings in all.
24% of Indian Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1972.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, 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.
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