Founding year: the first New York Mills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New York Mills’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New York Mills is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #190 of 758 in New York State. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New York Mills’ overall grade.
New York State towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York State town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so New York Mills’ 80.4 sits above most of its state (73% of New York State towns have fewer) while its 31 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.4 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 New York Mills’ 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 York Mills. 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 York Mills.
Timeline
New York Mills, 1831 to 1917
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
James S. Pula and Eugene E. Dziedzic provide a detailed history on the village in their book New York Mills (Images of America):New York Mills, named for the textile factories that were once the backbone of the surrounding villages economy, ranked among the foremost producers of quality fabrics in the country. Originally a wilderness area just south of the Mohawk River, the community began with a few scattered homes after the establishment of a small textile mill in 1808. Nourished by a growing economy, the village attracted a mosaic of Welsh and French-Canadian workers in the 19th century, followed by Poles, Syro-Lebanese, and Italians in the early 20th century. A hotbed of abolitionism in the antebellum years, it sent high percentages of its residents off to the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. In 1912 and 1916, its Polish residents founded a union and led textile strikes tha…
Passages that mention New York Mills, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-18781878 · page 623Read the page →
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The village of New York Mills is widely known from its being the place where are located the extensive mills of the New York Mills Cotton Manufacturing Company. A short historical sketch of this institution has been kindly furnished by Leander S. Wood, of the lower village, and is here subjoined : “Oneida Manufacturing Society. — In the winter of I SOY— S a joint-stock company was formed in Whitestown, of which lion. Thos.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Oneida County, New York1878 · page 615Read the page →
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from its mouth to the distance of three miles, was settled immediately after the settlement at Whitesboro', by the Wetmorcs and Leavenworths.f Within its limits are now included the villages of Yorkvillc and New York Mills, the upper part of the latter being in the township of New Hartford. Very soon after the settlement was made a school district was organized, embracing the whole of the above and some adjacent territory, and a school opened. Soon another district was organized, embracing the extreme southern portion
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-18781878Read the page →
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to possess in an eminent degree. He became connected in business relations with Mr. Benjamin Marshall, of Troy, in the erection of manufacturing establishments in the village of New York Mills, and from that period till the year 1856 he continued his active and responsible duties as its head and representative.
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.
By decade
New York Mills, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
The New York Mills post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does New York Mills rank for history?
New York Mills is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #190 of 758 in New York State. 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 York Mills?
36% of New York Mills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York State town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
Date?
2026
2026
2023