Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Medina’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Medina is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #126 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.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Medina’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 Medina’s 91.9 sits above most of its state (75% of New York towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). Two sources give 1817.
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 Medina’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Medina. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1897Medina sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Medina.
Every building
Medina, building by building, 1886–1915
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.
Joseph Ellicott, the agent of the Holland Land Company, once owned land that encompassed part of the village, purchased from the Holland Land Company. With the opening of the Erie Canal through Medina, the village enjoyed more trade and business associated with freight and passengers on canal boats.
The Village of Medina was incorporated March 3, 1832, creating an entity contained within the two towns of Ridgeway and Shelby. The charter of incorporation called for five Trustees to be elected as village officials. That same year the first printing press was set up in the village and the first newspaper published, The Medina Herald.
In 1852, the railroad arrived in Medina and passenger service quickly became popular.
Passages that mention Medina, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Pioneer history of Orleans County, New York1871 · page 63Read the page →
Read the text
AY 5, 1834, an Act of the Legislature was passed incorporating the Medina and Darien Railroad Company, to construct a Railroad ; and the road was built from Medina to Akron, in Erie County, twelve or fourteen miles, and fitted for cars, to be drawn by horses. It went into operation about 1836. After a short trial, it was found to be an unprofitable investment, the track was taken up, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Pioneer history of Orleans County, New York1871 · page 71Read the page →
Read the text
'' Boxwood Cemeteey" lies a little iiortli of Medina, on the east side of tlie gravel road leading to the Ridge, and contains about six kcres, and is owned by the village of Medina. Messrs. S. M. Burroughs, Geo. Northrop, Caleb Hill and others, bought this ground while a forest, of Mr. Gfwynn, for a Cemetery, in 1848. They sold it to the village for $600, and it was .laid out in lots, and formally opened for
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.
Timeline
Medina, 1817 to 1917
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 1817, according to Wikidata. Medina’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1870 counted 2,821 people here.
How does Medina rank for history?
Medina is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #126 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.
How old are the homes in Medina?
57% of Medina’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1917
1917
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1917