Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #79 of 758 in New York. What drives it
17 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 64 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1820.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lenox is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #79 of 758 in New York. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Lenox’s 99.3 sits above most of its state (76% of New York towns have fewer) while its 86 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lenox. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lenox.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lenox.
The town was formed on March 3, 1809, from the town of Sullivan. 5000 acres of the town's land was later partitioned off to form the town of Stockbridge.
Some novels of Walter D. Edmonds characterize life in the area at the time of the Erie Canal construction.
The village of New Lenox, Illinois, is named in honor of Lenox.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Lenox, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Organization of the Board was effected on January 28, 1870, when the trustees met at the residence of James Lenox, 53 Fifth Avenue, at 10 o'clock in the morning, declared their acceptance of the act of incorporation, chose James Lenox president, Belknap secretary, and requested the president to act as treasurer until another might be appointed.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Library," approved January 18th, 1849, and the several amendments thereto, for the purpose (among others) of erecting, maintaining and carrying on a public library in the City of New York; and Whereas, The Trustees of the Lenox Library are a corporation heretofore organized under an Act of the Legislature of the State of New York, entitled, "An Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Lenox Library," approved January 20th, 1870, and the several amend- 1 At the time this agreement was entered into the Boards of Trustees of the three constituent
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam H. Baker is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Madison County - Lenox - ED 27-24, ED …
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltCanastota Public Library is built
In the archiveWeekly List 1986-06-20
In the archiveDETAIL, NORTHWEST ARCH ABUTMENT. - Burdick Avenue Bridge, Spanning Cowaselon Creek at Bur…3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1986Weekly List 1986-06-20Book1994DETAIL, NORTHWEST ARCH ABUTMENT. - Burdick Avenue Bri…
1994JUNCTION, DECK BEAM, TENSION ROD, LOWER CHORD. - Burd…
1994LOWER CHORD DETAIL. - Burdick Avenue Bridge, Spanning…
1994NORTH PORTAL, LOOKING SOUTH. - Burdick Avenue Bridge,…
1994PANEL DETAILS, SOUTHWEST SIDE OF TRUSS. - Burdick Ave…
1994PERSPECTIVE LOOKING NORTHWEST. - Burdick Avenue Bridg…
1994SAME AS ABOVE WITH MEASURING STICK. - Burdick Avenue …
1994SOUTH PORTAL, LOOKING NORTH. - Burdick Avenue Bridge,…
1994TOP CHORD DETAIL, SOUTHWEST SIDE OF TRUSS PANEL. - Bu…No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lenox’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 3,360 and 10,246 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lenox’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Lenox is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #79 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.
17 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Canal Town Museum (listed 1986, the first), and 2 historic districts, the South Peterboro Street Commercial Historic District and the South Peterboro Street Residential Historic District, with 64 contributing buildings. 86 historic buildings in all.
36% of Lenox’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1955.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (17), 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.
2014