Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #701 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1930.
The New Hyde Park post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Hyde Park is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #701 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Hyde Park’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.
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 →
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 Hyde Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Hyde Park.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 1 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 2 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 3 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 4 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 5 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 6 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 7 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…
1933HABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 8 of 8) - Kelsey House, La…From Wikipedia’s history of New Hyde Park.
Thomas Dongan, the fourth royal governor of New York, was granted an 800-acre parcel of land in 1683 that included New Hyde Park. It was known as "Dongan's Farm." Dongan built a mansion on what is now Lakeville Road. In 1691, Dongan fled to New England and then Ireland, as King James II and his Catholic forces failed to regain power in England and Ireland.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Nassau County - New Hyde Park - ED 30-…
Born hereWally Van is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyIn the archiveHABS NY,30-NEHYP,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Kelsey House, Lakeville Road
In the archiveEric Weidemeyer, 2080 Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park. LOC gsc.5a22920
Born hereCrystal Dunn is born hereFire 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.
1910Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 New Hyde Park’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 3,314 and 10,808 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Hyde Park’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The New Hyde Park post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
New Hyde Park is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #701 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.
27% of New Hyde Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1951.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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.
1880