Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1904 on and old-book passages.
The Mina post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Mina (1828), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mina’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFindley Lake, Chautauqua County, New York (partial view, c. 1904)From Wikipedia’s history of Mina.
The area was first settled around 1815 by Alexander Findley, who built the first mills. The town of Mina was formed in 1824 from a partition of the town of Clymer. In 1832, part of the town was used to form the town of Sherman.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Mina, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mina — When on March 23, 1824, Mina, a town of 22,028 acres, high in altitude and of rolling, hilly surface, was set off from the town of Clymer, it included its present area and what is now the town of Sherman, which was taken off eight years later. Findley Lake, a rival of Chautauqua Lake in beauty, if not in size, lies within the town, its waters, shores
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sherman — It was not until April 7, 1832, that the town of Sherman began its separate existence, having previously been a part of the town of Mina. The town comprises the second township and fourteenth range as described in the Holland Land Company's survey ; covers an area of exactly 36 square miles and is bounded on the north by the town of Chautauqua, east
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Sherman was settled with unusual rapidity. The settlement of French Creek was commenced in 1812; of Mina, about 1815 ; of Clymer, in 1820; and of Sherman, in 1823. The Company's books show a greater number of original purchasers of lands in Sherman from 1825 to 1828, than in any other town of equal size in the county, during an equal period of time. Only a part of these purchasers are named in the subjoined list. The names of many of the early and temporary settlers are omitted.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
a life-long resident and reared a large family. Jeremiah Knowles was an early settler in the wilderness, although not an original purchaser. He was a surveyor and laid out the first road in the west part of the town. Zina Richards settled in the forest near Mina Corners, in 18 18 on lot 28, but did not article his land until 1825. Cullen Barnes settled at Mina early, probably about the same time as Richards. George Collier came in 1821, bought a farm on lot 45 and long resided tliere. His son, ( jeorge H., born in Mina, is now at Eugene, Ore., professor of chemistry and ')hysics in the University
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. 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 Mina’s page.
Retake this view · +15Mina had its own post office from 1824 to 1902. Another post office, West Mina, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Mina post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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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