The story
Read it all →How Kortright came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Kortright.
The West Kortright Presbyterian Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Kortright
Kortright’s post office opened in 1802, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the McArthur-Martin Hexadecagon Barn, the West Kortright Presbyterian Church and the Bloomville Methodist Epicopal Church. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1820.
1802first post office
3on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
3famous people
Quick answers
How Kortright began
When was Kortright founded?
1802
The Kortright post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Kortright (1838) and West Kortfight (1859), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,548 in 18202020 census: 1,544224 years
How historic is Kortright?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kortright post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kortright’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kortright is more historic than 88% 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kortright’s overall grade.
Founding era1802, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194028.6% of homes (±5.9) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 5 historic buildings, 30.7 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
NewerOlder
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 Kortright’s 30.7 sits near the middle of its state (62% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±5.9 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 Kortright’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Kortright, and 6 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19093 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1943. Watch Kortright change.Deep rootsA post office since 1802: 224 years of Kortright.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Kortright’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kortright’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Kortright had its own post office from 1802 to 1926. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Kortright
Bloomville
North Kortright
West Kortfight
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BloomvilleKortright CenterKortright StationNorth KortrightSturges CornerWest Kortright
Gone or out of use
School Number 12schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 7school
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kortright
BlakelyBraehead RoadDoonans CornersGilchrist United PresbyterianNorth KortrightRiversideSackrider
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Kortright on the map, 1909 to 1943
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kortright. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Delhi sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kortright.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Kortright in 1856
Passages that mention Kortright, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Delaware County, and border wars of New York, containing a sketch of the late anti-rent difficulties in Delaware..1856 · page 246Read the page →
Read the text
In 1770, Lawrence Kortright and his associates, obtained a patent of a large tract of land, principally contained within the limits of the present town of Kortright. The same year the following tracts of land, which, together with those already specified, comprised nearly all the territory of the county, were granted to various associations.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Delaware County, and border wars of New York, containing a sketch of the late anti-rent difficulties in Delaware..1856 · page 80Read the page →
Read the text
land, who removed from Albany with his family and located himself below the site of the present flourishing village of Bloomville, and not far from the south corner of the town of Kortright. After the commencement of the Revolution the few whigs (as those persons who dared to disown the king were called,) living in the valley of the Delaware, became, as it were, isolated from even what historians have termed the frontier of New York. They were few in number, and beyond the
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
Kortright, 1802 to 1926
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1802Post officeThe Kortright post office opens
- 1816Post officeThe Bloomville post office opens
- 1819
Born hereClark T. Hinman is born here - 1829
Born hereWilliam G. Blakely is born here - 1838Post officeThe North Kortright post office opens
- 1850
BuiltWest Kortright Presbyterian Church is built - 1857Born hereJames Leal Greenleaf is born here
- 1869
In the archiveKortright Business Directory; Kortright (Township); Bloomville (Village) - 1883
BuiltMcArthur-Martin Hexadecagon Barn is built - 20th century
- 1908
In the archiveThe Gilchrist Memorial United Presbyterian Church-Kortright, N.Y - 1909
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1918Post officeThe North Kortright post office closes
- 1926Post officeThe Kortright post office closes
By decade
Kortright, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s2 items
19081910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumThen & 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 viewKortright Business Directory; Kortright (Township); Bloomville (Village), 1869
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kortright’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
3 historic places in Kortright
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
McArthur-Martin Hexadecagon Barn
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late Victorian2
Round Barn1
McArthur-Martin Hexadecagon BarnRound Barn · Built 1883
West Kortright Presbyterian ChurchLate Victorian · Built 1850
Bloomville Methodist Epicopal ChurchLate Victorian
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Kortright, census by census
Between 1,073 and 2,873 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kortright’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Kortright
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Kortright’s history
What year was Kortright founded?
The Kortright post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kortright rank for history?
Kortright is more historic than 88% 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.
What is on the National Register in Kortright?
Three places: the McArthur-Martin Hexadecagon Barn (listed 1984), the West Kortright Presbyterian Church (2002) and the Bloomville Methodist Epicopal Church (2006).
How old are the homes in Kortright?
29% of Kortright’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 1981.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.