Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1801.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jerusalem’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jerusalem is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #288 of 758 in New York. All 3 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 Jerusalem’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 Jerusalem’s 88.8 sits above most of its state (74% of New York towns have fewer) while its 38 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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 (±6.3 points). Two sources give 1789.
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 Jerusalem’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Jerusalem had its own post office from 1801 to 1816. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Jerusalem
1801–1816
Jerusalem
1825–1852
Branchport
1834–today
Bluff Point
1849–1983
Friend
1883–1901
Keuka College
1890–1901
Guyunoga
1897–1900
Keuka Park
1901–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bluff PointBranchportFriendGuyanogaKeuka Park
Gone or out of use
School Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 16schoolSchool Number 17schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8schoolSchool Number 9school
Jerusalem was within the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. It was first settled around 1791. Among the earliest settlers were the Quaker evangelist known as the Public Universal Friend (1758–1819), and followers called the "Society of Universal Friends".
The town was an original town of the county. It was established in 1789, while still in Ontario County and became part of Yates County when the county was created in 1823. The area around Bluff Point was annexed to the town in 1814.
Jerusalem has been divided to form other towns in the county: in 1803, the Town of Benton was taken from Jerusalem. It was later divided into other towns.
Branchport is a purported birthplace of Seneca leader Red Jacket, but the location is disputed.
Of the city of Jerusalem itself detailed accounts from the hands of one pilgrim or another during the Crusading period are not wanting. Chief among these are the narratives of John of Wurzburg, who visited Palestine between 1160 and 1 170, and one Theoderic, who came a few years later. But perhaps we can for the present purpose take no better guide than a Norman-French description of the state
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The organisation of the kingdom of Jerusalem was feudalism in its purest form, the great feudatories duly receiving and observing their rights and obligations. The collection of usages devised for its governance are known as the Assizes of Jerusalem, and give us our most perfect picture of an ideal feudal state Not that they describe the kingdom as it ever actually existed, for indeed the Assizes only
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
Jerusalem, 1789 to 2000
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.
In 1789, according to Wikidata. Jerusalem’s post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1820 counted 1,610 people here.
How does Jerusalem rank for history?
Jerusalem is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #288 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 Jerusalem?
20 listings: 19 buildings, among them the Abraham Wagener House (listed 1994, the first), and 1 site. 38 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Jerusalem?
22% of Jerusalem’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (20), 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.
2023
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