Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #46 of 758 in New York. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 276 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1820.
The Lyons post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Alloway (1827), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lyons is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #46 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 age 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 Lyons’ 509 sits above most of its state (92% of New York towns have fewer) while its 285 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% 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.
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.
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 year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lyons.
The area was part of the Pulteney Estate. Settlement began circa 1789. The region was originally known as "The Forks." The Town of Lyons was formed from the Town of Sodus in 1811. The Erie Canal was completed as far as Lyons by 1821.
In 1825, the size of the town was reduced upon the formation of the Town of Arcadia.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Lyons, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Town of Lyons; Its Erection. —The town of Lyons was set off from Sodus in 1811 and four years later was divided into Lyons and Arcadia.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Lyons; Its Incorporation. —The articles of the incorporation of the village of Lyons were signed by Gov. Enos T. Throop April 16, 1831. On the first day of May following the "freeholders and inhabitants" entitled to vote assembled at the Lyons Hotel and elected the following village officers: Trustees, Zalomon Rice, William H.
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 hereBradley A. Fiske is born here
Born hereMyron Charles Taylor is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Wayne County - Lyons - ED 59-19, ED 59…
Born hereArthur T. Hannett is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveLyons NY Presby PHS800
Born hereJim Boeheim is born here
In the archiveELEVATION, SOUTHWEST PORTAL, VIEW TO NORTHEAST - Creager's Bridge, County Route 344, Cole…
In the archiveMaple Leaf at4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lyons. 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 Lyons.
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 Lyons’ page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 6,315 in 1990; 3,989 people lived here in 2020.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lyons’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Lyons’s post office has been open since 1811. Another post office, Alloway, 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).
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.
The Lyons post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Lyons is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #46 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.
7 listings: 4 buildings, 2 historic districts, the Broad Street-Water Street Historic District and the Lyons Downtown Historic District, with 276 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 285 historic buildings in all.
52% of Lyons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (7), 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, 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.
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