Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Larchmont’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Larchmont is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #169 of 758 in New York. 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 Larchmont’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 Larchmont’s 6.1 sits near the middle of its state (38% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1614.
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 (±10.5 points).
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 Larchmont’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
Originally inhabited by the Siwanoy (an Algonquian tribe), Larchmont was explored by the Dutch in 1614. In 1661, John Richbell, a merchant from Hampshire, England, traded a minimal amount of goods and trinkets with the Siwanoy in exchange for land that is today known as the Town of Mamaroneck. The purchase included three peninsulas of land that lay between the Mamaroneck River to the east and Pelham Manor to the west. The east neck is now known as Orienta while the middle neck is what is now known as Larchmont Manor. The third neck was later sold and is now known as Davenport Neck in New Rochelle. The purchase was contested by Thomas Revell who, one month following Richbell's purchase, bought the land from the Siwanoy at a higher price. Richbell petitioned Governor Stuyvesant, Director General of the Colonies of the New Netherland, and Richbell was issued the land patent in 1662. In 166…
Passages that mention Larchmont, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Westchester county, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York city1886 · page 860Read the page →
Read the text
of the family of the late Mr. George Yanderburg for his own residence. It has since been laid out in several small village plots, a large part of it is also owned by the Proprietors of Larchmont, through which runs the surface railway to the Larchmont station of the New Haven Railroad, which is upon this property. West of the Railroad but invisible from it on account of the forest, is " Hannah's Peak,"
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 19001900 · page 627Read the page →
Read the text
Nine new villages have been incorporated during the present decade: Pelham Manor and Larchmont in 1801, Mamaroneck in 1805, Pelham, North Pelham, and Ardsley in 1896, Pleasantville in 1897, and Bronxville and Croton in 1898.
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.
On the map
Larchmont on the map, 1947 to 1966
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Larchmont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Mt Vernon sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Larchmont.
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 viewLarchmont Ave., N.Y, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Larchmont’s page.
In 1614, according to Wikidata. Larchmont’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1900 counted 945 people here.
How does Larchmont rank for history?
Larchmont is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #169 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 Larchmont?
50% of Larchmont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1940.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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