The Lisbon post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Flackville (1847) and Lisbon Centre (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 930 in 18202020 census: 4,221218 years
How historic is Lisbon?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lisbon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lisbon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lisbon is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #324 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 Lisbon’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 Lisbon’s 11.8 sits near the middle of its state (49% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.2 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 Lisbon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Lisbon’s post office has been open since 1808. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Lisbon
1808–today
Flackville
1847–1903
Lisbon Centre
1850–1903
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FlackvilleHague CrossingPine GroveRed Mills
Gone or out of use
New York State Fish HatcherylocaleSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 13schoolSchool Number 14schoolSchool Number 15schoolSchool Number 17schoolSchool Number 18schoolSchool Number 19schoolSchool Number 20schoolSchool Number 21schoolSchool Number 22schoolSchool Number 23schoolSchool Number 24schoolSchool Number 25schoolSchool Number 26schoolSchool Number 29school
The area along the St. Lawrence River had been occupied by Iroquoian peoples, as noted by early French explorers. They are thought to have been defeated by members of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy who dominated the area of present-day New York state west of Albany. They preserved this area as hunting ground and conducted fur trading with French colonists along the river.
Passages that mention Lisbon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical sketch of Lisbon, Conn., from 1786-19001903 · page 41Read the page →
Read the text
Lisbon has now two railroads passing through her territory, one of which gives her a station recently denominated Lisbon ; another station called Versailles, on the same railroad, is situated between Lisbon and Sprague. Still another station, on the Norwich and Worcester Railroad at Jewett City, is very close to her eastern border and much used by all residents of Lisbon.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical sketch of Lisbon, Conn., from 1786-19001903 · page 38Read the page →
Read the text
new town. Two memorials were presented to the General Assembly asking it to carry into effect that design, and the result was that the Assembly in 1786, instead of making from Norwich two new towns, made three — namely, Bozrah, Franklin, and Lisbon (except that part of Preston, which afterwards became Griswold, was not included in the act incorporating Lisbon). The joint petition of Newent and Hanover was granted, and these two parishes remained together, each forming a part of Lisbon's township seventy-five years
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
Lisbon, 1808 to 1904
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Lisbon post office opened in 1808, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lisbon rank for history?
Lisbon is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #324 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.
What is on the National Register in Lisbon?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Lisbon Town Hall (listed 1980, the first).
How old are the homes in Lisbon?
31% of Lisbon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
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