Kinderhook dates to 1651, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #99 of 758 in New York. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and three historic districts with 254 buildings between them. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1786.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kinderhook’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kinderhook is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #99 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 Kinderhook’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 Kinderhook’s 317 sits above most of its state (87% of New York towns have fewer) while its 261 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1651.
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 (±5.9 points).
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 →
What stands out about Kinderhook’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed as far north as Kinderhook on his exploration of the Hudson River and named the location "Kinderhoek". This means "children's corner" in Dutch, and is supposed to have been applied to this locality on account of the many Native American children who had assembled on one of the bluffs along the river to see his strange vessel (the Half Moon) sailing upstream. Hudson had mixed dealings with the local Mohican natives, ranging from peaceful trade to minor skirmishes. As the Dutch settled in the area, they were targeted by the natives for robbery and murder. Another version says that a Swede named Scherb, living in the forks of an Indian trail in the present town of Stuyvesant, had such a numerous family of children that the name of Kinderhook was used by the Dutch traders to designate that locality. A third theory about the town's name derives from a settler, na…
Passages that mention Kinderhook, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of old Kinderhook from aboriginal days to the present time1914 · page 32Read the page →
Read the text
Act to incorporate the Village of Kinderhook, in the County of Columbia." Sec. I. thus describes: Boundary Lines. . . . Beginning at and on the northerly side of Kinderhook creek, at a point where the division line between the town of Kinderhook and the town of Stuyvesant crosses the said creek near the dwelling house of Adam Van Alstyne, running thence north-easterly along the said northerly side of said creek and up the same to a post in the division
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of old Kinderhook from aboriginal days to the present time1914 · page 328Read the page →
Read the text
pelled to report the reprehensible action of the town of Stuyvesant. In December, 1827, it appealed to the legislature for the passage of a law to equalize the public bridges in the towns of Stuyvesant and Kinderhook, or to exonerate the town of Stuyvesant from the expenses of repairs on the long bridge (our village bridge) in the town of Kinderhook.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Columbia County, New York. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1878 · page 232Read the page →
Read the text
The services of the Episcopal church were first regularly held in Kinderhook in the fall of 1850. These resulted in the organization of the present society, Jan. 18, 1851. An attractive house of worship was soon after commenced in the village of Kinderhook, which was consecrated June 22, 1852, by Rev. Carlton Chase. The rector. Rev. Fred. T.
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.
By decade
Kinderhook, decade by decade
5 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kinderhook. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Kinderhook 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 Kinderhook.
Every building
Kinderhook, building by building, 1886–1912
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.
1886Sheet 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 viewIcabod [sic] Crane's schoolhouse, 1809
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kinderhook’s page.
In 1651, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kinderhook’s post office opened in 1786, and the census of 1820 counted 3,963 people here.
How does Kinderhook rank for history?
Kinderhook is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #99 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 Kinderhook?
10 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 6 buildings, among them the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (a National Historic Landmark since 1961), 3 historic districts, the Kinderhook Village District, the Wild's Mill Complex and the Van Buren, Martin, National Historic Site, with 254 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 261 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Kinderhook?
27% of Kinderhook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (13), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
1873
1930
1930
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
