Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them 3 National Historic Landmarks and two historic districts with 27 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1840.
Long Lake dates its founding to 1833 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1840.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Long Lake’s post office has been open since 1837. Five 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. 3 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 1,149 in 1910; 791 people lived here in 2020.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Long Lake’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Long Lake.
The town was settled circa 1833 by Joel Plumley, a native of Vermont.
The town of Long Lake was formed in 1837 from sections of the towns of Arietta, Morehouse, Lake Pleasant, and Wells. In 1861, the town was increased by additions from Arietta, Lake Pleasant, and Morehouse.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFlushing Grouse, Long Lake, Hamilton County, New Yorklabel QS:Len,"Flushing Grouse, Long …BuiltCamp Pine Knot is built
In the archiveAdirondack Mountains, N.Y.)- Raquette River belowBuiltSagamore is builtBuiltSagamore Lodge is built
In the archiveLong Lake, The Sagamore, Long and Raquette Lake, N. Y
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Long Lake. 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 Long Lake.
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 Long Lake’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Long Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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.
In 1833, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Long Lake’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1840 counted 59 people here.
9 listings, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks: 8 buildings, among them the Sagamore (a National Historic Landmark since 2000), and 2 historic districts, the New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District and the Whelan Camp, with 27 contributing buildings. 109 historic buildings in all.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (10), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1875
1888
1898
