Founding year: the first Mohawk post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mohawk’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mohawk is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mohawk’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 Mohawk’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Mohawk’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was settled by Palatine Germans after 1722. In 1725, the King of Great Britain and Governor Burnet granted Mohawk to the Palatine Germans in what was known as the Burnetsfield Patent.
George Washington was known to stop in Mohawk to have lunch at the Shoemaker Tavern on his way to and from Fort Stanwix in Rome.
Mohawk became known as "Bennetts Corners" after a hotel stand that was located here in 1826. In 1838, the village became
The village was incorporated on April 16, 1844. The first president of the village, Frederick Bellinger, came into office on May 4 of that year.
The first mayor of Mohawk was James V. Casey, who was elected in 1960. The current mayor is Jim Baron.
Oriskany 439 Mohawk River rises just over the border of Lewis County in the town of Lewis and under the shadow of Mohawk Hill. Although flowing in a southerly direction until it reaches the vicinity of Rome, like many a mountain stream with its numerous curves it seems to flow in the direction of every point of the compass. West of Rome is a small stream running parallel with the Mohawk called Wood Creek, distant
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Schohaire County, and border wars of New York1845 · page 429Read the page →
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troops and the Americans under Col. Duboise ; in which, several * On the morning of the day on which the Stone Arabian battle was fovght Fred. H. Dockstader, who lived on the " Sand Flats" in the present town of Mohawk, having seen the fires along the riveri concealed his family and personal effects in the woods, and then approached the Mohawk vaUey to gain ft view of passing events ; thinking the enemy would confine their movements to the river settlements. As he was about to gain the desired position, lie was surprised to see a party of Indians approaching him. He walk bold-
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History of Schohaire County, and border wars of New York1845 · page 143Read the page →
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a ficrry. The last mentioned bridge was put up in the summer aad completed by the following winter, so as to be used on one tnok, but the first qnring fireshet carried it off. Afterwards, the Mohawk Turnpike Company erected another, some thirty rods farther up the river, which is still standing. A bridge was stretched aeroBS the river many years ago, a little below the Nose, but it was soon after swept away by the ice and never rebuilt Bridges bare also been erected over the Mohawk at Cahoes Falls, Am-
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
Mohawk, 1856 to 1960
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mohawk. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1943Ilion sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mohawk.
Every building
Mohawk, building by building, 1884–1910
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.
The Mohawk post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mohawk rank for history?
Mohawk is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. 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 Mohawk?
62% of Mohawk’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.3 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 (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2012
2012
