Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Arcade and Attica Railroad and the Java School No. 1. Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1840.
The Java post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Gurnee's Mills (1826) and Curriers (1924), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Java was named after the island of Java.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Java is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Java’s 24.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Java’s history is told.
Java had its own post office from 1832 to 1924. 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJasper D. Ward is born here
Born hereEd Don George is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Java.
The Town of Java was founded in 1832 from part of the Town of Arcade (then the Town of China). It was named after the island of Java.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Java, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the same right as had previously been enjoyed by the native sovereigns, and deemed it advisable to continue the long-established principles and forms of native government In the same manner, therefore, as the emperors of Java were looked upon as the ultimate proprietors of the land in their dominions, the Dutch Company were considered as possessing the same right with respect to the provinces under their immediate administration ; and the princes of Java having been in the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
64,516 Grand Total.. 1,119,375 The tmhealthiness of the climate of Batavia b connected, in the minds of many, with the fahulous properties of the poison tree of Java, and many are so ignorant of the island as to consider the climate of Batavia as a fair example of that of Java in general. History attests that this city has heen highly pernicious to the health hoth of £mt>peans and Natives, almost from its foundation, and recent experience concurs with the testi-
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.
2009Arcade & Attica steam locomotive
2007Sugar shanty - Beaver Meadow Audubon Center
2007Maple syrup evaporator - Beaver Meadow Audubon Center
2007Maple sugar demonstration 4
2007Maple sugar demonstration 3
2007Maple sugar demonstration 2
2007Maple sugar demonstration 1
2007Maple sap buckets - Beaver Meadow Audubon CenterEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Java. 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 Java.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 1,364 and 2,358 people in every census since 1840.
18 censuses, 1840–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Java’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Java post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Java is more historic than 91% 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.
Two places: the Arcade and Attica Railroad (listed 1980) and the Java School No. 1 (2001).
45% of Java’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
