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History · Lisle

Lisle’s post office opened in 1802, and 80% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1820.

1802first post office
0on the National Register
80%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lisle’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lisle began

When was Lisle founded?

1802

The Lisle post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 3,083 in 18202020 census: 348224 years
Founding year: the first Lisle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lisle’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1920, then more than doubled.Old housesHalf of Lisle’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1951. Watch Lisle change.Deep rootsA post office since 1802: 224 years of Lisle.
★ What stands out · People over time

Lisle, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,50018501900195020004,393 in 1830Low: 1,219

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1920, then more than doubled.

20 censuses, 1820–2010.

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

The story

How Lisle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lisle.

Read it all →

The area that is now the town of Lisle was first settled around 1791. The town was formed from the town of Union in 1801. Later, parts of Lisle were used to form new towns in the county: in 1831, a division of Lisle into four parts created three new towns: Barker, Nanticoke, and Triangle.

John D. Rockefeller's birthplace is located northeast of Lisle by a few miles in Richford, New York and his relatives lived in Lisle. Rockefeller's father lived outside the morals of the Lisle community since he had two wives.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Lisle on the map, 1903 to 1951

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

Lisle on the 1903 USGS mapLisle on the 1949 USGS mapLisle on the 1951 USGS map1903Harford 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 Lisle.

Timeline

Lisle, 1830 to 1935

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830CensusPopulation peaks at 4,393
  3. 1855In the archivePlan-of-Lisle-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b-la000476
  4. 1876In the archiveMap of Lisle Township; Killawog (Village)
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveTioughnioga River near Lisle, N.Y
  7. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1935In the archiveLisle flood
By decade

Lisle, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1900s5 items
Plan-of-Lisle-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b-la0004761855Plan-of-Lisle-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b…Map of Lisle Township; Killawog (Village)1876Map of Lisle Township; Killawog (Village)MapStore and res. of F.A. Potter, Dealer in Country Produce, Killawog, Broome Co., N.Y; Res. of E.Johnson, Killawog, Broom…1876Store and res. of F.A. Potter, Dealer in Country Prod…Upper Lisle, Triangle TP; Chenango Folks; Union Center P.O., Union TP (Villages)1876Upper Lisle, Triangle TP; Chenango Folks; Union Cente…Tioughnioga River near Lisle, N.Y1900Tioughnioga River near Lisle, N.Y
1930s1 item
Lisle flood1935Lisle flood
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
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.

Plan-of-Lisle-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b-la000476
Retake this viewPlan-of-Lisle-Broome-County-1855-Gifford-Wenig-g3803b-la000476, 1855

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lisle’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Lisle’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPlan-of-Lisle-Broome-County-1855-Giffor…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Lisle’s history

What year was Lisle founded?

The Lisle post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.