History · Moreau

Moreau dates to 1766, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #482 of 758 in New York. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Grant Cottage, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1820.

1766founded

4on the National Register

12%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Moreau began

When was Moreau founded?

1766

Moreau dates its founding to 1766 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,549 in 18202020 census: 16,202260 years

How historic is Moreau?

A⁻

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Moreau’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moreau is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #482 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Moreau’s overall grade.

Founding era1766, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA⁺Homes built before 194011.7% of homes (±3.3) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National Register4 listings, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%

NewerOlder

New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 36%

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 Moreau’s 2.4 sits below most of its state (26% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1766.

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 (±3.3 points).

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 →

What stands out about Moreau’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Moreau, and 23 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18955 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1966. Watch Moreau change.A National Historic Landmark4 places on the National Register, including Grant Cottage, a National Historic Landmark.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Moreau had its own post office from 1815 to 1852. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Moreau

1815–1852

Reynolds Corners

1834–1835

Fortsville

1835–1904

Moreau Station

1849–1872

South Glens Falls

1852–today

18101920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Ashfords WayBluebird Knolls Trailer ParkBluebird Trailer ParkClarks CornerEnglish VillageEvergreen Trailer ParkFenimoreFernwoodFortsvilleGrants WoodsGregory ManorLamplighter AcresPine ValleyPruyn CrestReynolds CornersSandy OaksShady Pines Trailer ParkSouth Glens FallsSpier PinesStrawberry AcresSunset Hill DownsSweets Trailer ParkWhite Birch Estates

Gone or out of use

Aust's Open Air TheatrelocaleMount McGregor State HospitalhospitalUnion School Number 2school

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Moreau

Big BendGriswoldSaint MarysSouth Side

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Moreau’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Moreau’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Moreau on the map, 1895 to 1966

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Moreau. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1895Glens Falls 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 Moreau.

The story

How Moreau came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Moreau.

Read it all →

The town, although part of the town of Northumberland until 1805, was first settled around 1766 at what is now the village of South Glens Falls.

Ulysses S. Grant, former President and army general, spent the last weeks of his life finishing his memoirs at what is now the Grant Cottage State Historic Site. The cottage on Mount McGregor was surrounded by over 1000 acres of beautiful natural vistas, and was visited by many thousands of Civil War veterans in the years following his death. The locale has had many uses over the decades, and currently the cottage is on the grounds of the former Mount McGregor Correctional Facility.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Moreau, 1878–1893

Passages that mention Moreau, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Glens Falls, and followed it very successfully for eight years and up to 1865, in which year he purchased his present farm in the town of Moreau. This farm contains one hundred and seventy acres of land, some of which is in timber, and ranks as one of the most desirable farms of the town of Moreau.… — **History of Saratoga County, New York**1893 · page 505Read the page →
Read the text
Glens Falls, and followed it very successfully for eight years and up to 1865, in which year he purchased his present farm in the town of Moreau. This farm contains one hundred and seventy acres of land, some of which is in timber, and ranks as one of the most desirable farms of the town of Moreau. Mr. Richards is a manof conservative policy in business
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

captain of a ship, and for twelve years commanded a sailing vessel on the high seas. He then retired from that business, and in 1803 came to the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, New York, and purchased the farm of two hundred acres upon which his surviving daughters now reside. Here he passed the r… — **History of Saratoga County, New York**1893 · page 577Read the page →
Read the text
captain of a ship, and for twelve years commanded a sailing vessel on the high seas. He then retired from that business, and in 1803 came to the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, New York, and purchased the farm of two hundred acres upon which his surviving daughters now reside. Here he passed the remainder of his life, dying at Moreau, January
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

In 1803 the bounty on wolves was $25. Afterwards it was reduced to $10, and was discontinued in 1808. After the town of Moreau was set off there is recorded a settlement between the two towns as to the support of the poor. The whole number of town-poor was found to be two, and the matter was very e… — **History of Saratoga County, New York, with biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers**1878 · page 404Read the page →
Read the text
In 1803 the bounty on wolves was $25. Afterwards it was reduced to $10, and was discontinued in 1808. After the town of Moreau was set off there is recorded a settlement between the two towns as to the support of the poor. The whole number of town-poor was found to be two, and the matter was very easily adjusted by assigning one to each town. Names of jurors entered in the records of 1808 are John Collins, physician; William
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

Moreau, 1766 to 2021

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1766
FoundingMoreau is established
19th century
1815Post officeThe Moreau post office opens
1817Born hereHenry Franklin Bronson is born here
1819Born hereJohn Hazard Reynolds is born here
1820In the archiveComposite of two illustrations- 1. Rev. L. Armstrong, Dr. B.J. Clark, Gardiner Stow, and …
1834Post officeThe Reynolds Corners post office opens
1835Post officeThe Reynolds Corners post office closes
1835Post officeThe Fortsville post office opens
1852Post officeThe Moreau post office closes
1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1904Post officeThe Fortsville post office closes
21st century
2021LandmarkGrant Cottage named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

Moreau, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1820s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1820s1 item

Composite of two illustrations- 1. Rev. L. Armstrong, Dr. B.J. Clark, Gardiner Stow, and James Mott around table with H…

1820Composite of two illustrations- 1. Rev. L. Armstrong,…Document

Today2 recent

2021Moreau Town Justice Court

2021Cool Beans in

On the National Register

4 historic places in Moreau

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed

National Historic Landmark

Grant Cottage

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1985

Glens Falls Feeder Canal

BuildingsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial1

Greek Revival1

★ Landmark

Grant CottageBuilding

Glens Falls Feeder CanalStructure

All 4 listings

Parks-Bentley HouseBuilding · listed 1994 Royal Blockhouse, TheSite · listed 2012

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Moreau, census by census

Grew from 1,549 people in 1820 to 16,202 in 2020, more than tenfold.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Moreau’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Moreau

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

John Hazard ReynoldsMember of the US House of Representatives · b. 1819

Henry Franklin BronsonCanadian businessman · b. 1817

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Queensbury8 historic placesB⁺Fort Edward6 historic placesA Lake Luzerne1 historic placeA⁻West Glens FallsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Glens Falls41 historic placesB⁺Fort Edward4 historic placesA South Glens Falls1 historic placeB Hudson Falls2 historic placesA⁺Kingsbury3 historic placesA Northumberland3 historic placesB

Questions about Moreau’s history

What year was Moreau founded?

In 1766, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Moreau’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1820 counted 1,549 people here.

How does Moreau rank for history?

Moreau is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #482 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 Moreau?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Grant Cottage (a National Historic Landmark since 2021), 1 site, and 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Moreau?

12% of Moreau’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1982.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (4), 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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