Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1806.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Hartford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Hartford is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Hartford’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 New Hartford’s 10.1 sits near the middle of its state (46% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). Two sources give 1788.
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 New Hartford’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 New Hartford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Oriskany 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 New Hartford.
Every building
New Hartford, building by building, 1885–1915
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.
New Hartford was settled in March 1788 when Jedediah Sanger, who was bankrupted in 1784 by a fire at his farm in Jaffrey, New Hampshire and afterwards moved to the area.
According to the earliest recorded history (Annals and Recollections of Oneida County, Jones, 1851), Sanger bought 1,000 acres (400 ha), the land was sold at a price of fifty cents an acre. This land, thought to be separated into two equal parts by the Sauquoit Creek, was part of the Town of Whitestown at the time. Within a year, Sanger sold the area east of the creek to Joseph Higbee, the area's second resident, for one dollar per acre. A subsequent survey found this area was 600 acres (240 ha).
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 1788, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. New Hartford’s post office opened in 1806, and the census of 1830 counted 3,599 people here.
How does New Hartford rank for history?
New Hartford is more historic than 84% 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 New Hartford?
35% of New Hartford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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