Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #179 of 758 in New York. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1820.
Manheim dates its founding to 1756 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manheim is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #179 of 758 in New York. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings 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 Manheim’s 26.2 sits near the middle of its state (60% of New York towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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.
Manheim had its own post office from 1804 to 1853. 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 Manheim’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manheim. 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 Manheim.
From Wikipedia’s history of Manheim.
The town was first settled around 1756 by natives of German states.
In 1780, during the American Revolution, Loyalists and native allies attacked settlements in the town.
Manheim was formed from the town of Palatine (Montgomery County) in 1797.
The Snells Bush Church and Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Manheim, cut from the printed page as they were published.
East Canada Creek and a grist-mill, sawmill and carding works about half a mile north of the present Mohawk turnpike. The building of the last-named bridge led to his settling in Manheim. The bridge was paid for by Montgomery county, and in order to get the necessary timber he purchased a one-hundredacre lot west of the creek and near the bridge in March, 1794. Finishing the bridge, he erected the mills which were in operation in 1795. These improvements attracted emigrants, and by 1800 there was a lively settlement here; it became
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
East Canada Creek, and eight miles from Little Falls, with which it is now connected by railroad. The principal part of the village, which includes all the factories, post-office, schools, business blocks, etc., is situated in the northeast corner of the township of Manheim. Many handsome residences, the academy, the Episcopal church, the lumber yards, etc., lie on the further side of the creek in the township of Oppenheim, Fulton county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
all that part of the county of Montgomery, bounded northerly by the north hounds of the state, easterly by Palatine, then extending to the west bounds of the present town of Manheim, southerly by the Mohawk river, and westerly by a north and south line running across the Mohawk river, at the fording place, near the house of William Cunningham, leaving the same house to the west of said line. This fixed the west line of the town on the present western limits of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Palatine, Oppenheim and Manheim, are names significant of the origin of the people who were the first settlers in these towns. Manheim constituted a part of the Palatine district in Tryon county, and the town of that name until 1797, when it was organized into a separate town. The town remains as it was when annexed to the county in the year 1817. The East Canada creek affords a large supply of water at most seasons of the year, and being intersected
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 hereFrederick Lansing is born here
BuiltDolge, Alfred, Hose Co. No. 1 Building is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltUS Post Office-Dolgeville is builtThe 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.
Between 1,777 and 3,897 people in every census since 1820.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manheim’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1756, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Manheim’s post office opened in 1804, and the census of 1820 counted 1,777 people here.
Manheim is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #179 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.
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the US Post Office-Dolgeville (listed 1988, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
46% of Manheim’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (3), 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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