Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Marlborough’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marlborough is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #323 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marlborough’s overall grade.
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 Marlborough’s 13.6 sits near the middle of its state (51% of New York towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1697.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
What stands out about Marlborough’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
A land grant (patent) of the territory was made to Captain John Evans of the Royal Navy in 1694. One of his first settlers arrived in 1697.
The region was part of the Newburgh Precinct and was set apart in 1772. The Town of Marlborough was formed in 1788 during a period of town formation in the county. Part of the town was used to create the town of Plattekill in 1800.
Passages that mention Marlborough, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Newton genealogy, genealogical, biographical, historical1915 · page 511Read the page →
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Daniel Newton was a soldier in the French and Indian War, in 1758 and in 1759, from the town of Marlborough. He may have been then resident of Marlborough. He would have been 54 years old at the last date. CIIILDHEN.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Newton genealogy, genealogical, biographical, historical1915 · page 75Read the page →
Read the text
The township of Shrewsbury was incorporated December 15, 1727, ten years after it was granted as a township. The town was settled mostly by people from Marlborough, Mass. At the first town meeting after that date Shrewsbury included what is now Boylstou, most of West Boylston, a small part of Sterling, Westborough and Grafton. In 1741, Obediah Newton, who had settled in the town, together with three other families and their farms, were set off and annexed to Grafton. Thus we find a record of the births of his children in the towns of Shrewsbury, Westborough and Grafton, and
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.
By decade
Marlborough, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1697, according to Wikidata. Marlborough’s post office opened in 1822, and the first U.S. census counted 2,241 people here in 1790.
How does Marlborough rank for history?
Marlborough is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #323 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.
What is on the National Register in Marlborough?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Dubois-Sarles Octagon (listed 2002, the first). 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Marlborough?
16% of Marlborough’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (7), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, 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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