Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #473 of 758 in New York. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 32 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1820.
Lysander dates its founding to 1797 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lysander is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #473 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Lysander’s 17.8 sits near the middle of its state (54% of New York towns have fewer) while its 41 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
Lysander’s post office has been open since 1821. 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lysander’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lysander. 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 Lysander.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lysander.
The town was part of the former Central New York Military Tract. It was first settled by outsiders circa 1797. The Town of Lysander was formed in 1794 from the northern townships of the Military Tract. Lysander was later reduced by the creation of the Towns of Hannibal (1806) and Cicero (1807). Lysander was reduced again on the formation of Oswego County in 1816.
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.
Born hereEsther Baker Steele is born here
In the archiveBaptist Sunday School, Jack's Reef
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Lysander’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.
Grew from 1,723 people in 1820 to 23,074 in 2020, more than tenfold.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lysander’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1797, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lysander’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1820 counted 1,723 people here.
Lysander is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #473 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.
Three places: the Whig Hill and Dependencies (listed 1975), the Oswego-Oneida Streets Historic District (1982) and the Baldwinsville Village Hall (1997).
12% of Lysander’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (3), 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) 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.
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006