Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lakewood

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Lakewood

Lakewood’s post office opened in 1880, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #638 of 758 in New York. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1900.

1880first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lakewood began

When was Lakewood founded?

1880

The Lakewood post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 574 in 19002020 census: 3,002146 years

How historic is Lakewood?

B

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lakewood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Lakewood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lakewood is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #638 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lakewood’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194027.0% of homes (±8.2) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 3.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 55%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 16%

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 Lakewood’s 3.4 sits below most of its state (30% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.2 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 Lakewood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lakewood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1979. Watch Lakewood change.Old housesHalf of Lakewood’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lakewood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lakewood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lakewood on the map, 1904 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lakewood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lakewood on the 1904 USGS mapLakewood on the 1941 USGS mapLakewood on the 1954 USGS mapLakewood on the 1979 USGS map1904Chautauqua 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 Lakewood.

The story so far

Lakewood, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lakewood yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lakewood is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,993 at the 2020 census. The village is in the northern part of the town of Busti.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,002 in 2010, 3,002 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Lakewood, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Possibly the First Jamesway2014Possibly the First JameswayOlive Garden2014Olive GardenLakewood NY Walmart Exterior As 20142014Lakewood NY Walmart Exterior As 2014Starbucks Coffee2013Starbucks CoffeeKFCombo2013KFComboChautauqua Lake at Lakewood, New York, July 20082008Chautauqua Lake at Lakewood, New York, July 2008
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lakewood

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lakewood, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,941

Between 564 and 3,941 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lakewood’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Busti3 historic placesA−Jamestown WestIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEllicottIts storyB+

Questions about Lakewood’s history

What year was Lakewood founded?

The Lakewood post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lakewood rank for history?

Lakewood is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #638 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.

How old are the homes in Lakewood?

27% of Lakewood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1959.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.