Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1820.
The Lewiston post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1818.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lewiston is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age 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 Lewiston’s 7.7 sits near the middle of its state (42% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lewiston. 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 Lewiston.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveSanborn (Village); Lewiston Business Notices.; Lewiston (Village)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveLewiston & Queenston Suspension bridge, Niagara River, New York and Canada
Born hereSusan M. Crawford is born here
Born hereLeila Janah is born here
Born hereMaddie Elia is born hereMost archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lewiston.
The Town of Lewiston was formed in 1818 from the town of Cambria. Lewiston was the first European settlement in Western New York. A French explorer by the name of Étienne Brûlé arrived in 1615.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Lewiston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Leander K. Scovell, farmer, who has been supervisor and assessor of the town of Lewiston, and who now holds the position of president of the Lewiston and Queenston Suspension Bridge Company, was born in Pahnyra, N. Y., March 5th, 1817, and came to Lewiston in 1833, having previously lived at Lockport.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Avenue, while below the hill this present avenue was known as Spring Street. That section of the present Main Street in the former village of Suspension Bridge was known as Lewiston Avenue, while in the village of Niagara Falls it was known as Ontario Street. Up to 1850 all the business of the village of Suspension Bridge was on Spring Street, but in the next few years it began to creep up the hill.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
from Lockport building the wing extending to the north, and the Buffalo line building a wing that extended east, but which has since been changed. The company that built the railroad to Lewiston was incorporated September 9, 1852, and was known as the Niagara Falls & Lake Ontario Railroad Company, its inspiration being to reach the lake at Youngstown. The work of this company commanded much attention because of the great cut it made through the rock
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1923Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Lewiston’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 869 and 16,262 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lewiston’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Lewiston post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1818.
Lewiston is more historic than 70% 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.
15% of Lewiston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (10), 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.
1900
1900![Niagara, Queenstown [i.e., Queenston] Heights from Lewiston](https://images.townratings.com/story/11544/15cf800a7fbd77b15c89-s.jpg)
1900
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