Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #403 of 758 in New York. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1870.
The Nyack post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nyack is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #403 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Nyack’s 5.4 sits near the middle of its state (36% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 Nyack. 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 Nyack.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 8Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Nyack.
Native American stone relics and oyster middens found along the Hudson River shoreline indicate that present-day Nyack was a popular pre-Colonial fishing location. The first Europeans settled there in 1675, calling the general area "Tappan".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Nyack, cut from the printed page as they were published.
This seems, however, to have hastened the incorporation of Nyack, for very shortly thereafter, namely, on February 27th 1883, the village of Nyack was incorporated, its northern limit being the Clarkstown line and southern line of the incorporated village of Upper Nyack, and its southern limit the northern line of the incorporated village of South Nyack, containing a territory of about one square mile, and a resident population of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
county branch of the Erie Railroad finds its way to the Hudson by a grade of sixty feet to the mile, and by a like grade, the Northern Railroad of New Jersey ascends along the hillside to the village of Nyack, four miles above. Between the Palisades and Piermont is a beautiful plateau, about 200 feet above the river, dotted with farms and lovely homes. Between the villages of Piermont and Nyack, the hills fall back far enough to leave
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereEdward Hopper is born here
In the archiveNyack baseball team
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSpecial Hudson river district, map of all main routes and principal optionsBorn hereChuck Loeb is born hereBorn hereMondaire Jones is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1885Nyack baseball team1915Special Hudson river district, map of all main routes…Map
1916Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1916 - Peace Float tak…
1917South Broadway from Burke Building, Nyack, N.Y
1917Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1917 - Boys from St. A…
1917Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1917 - Chaplain of Wes…
1917Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1917 - Float, "Temple …
1917Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1917 - Nyack, N.Y., Ch…
1917Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1917 - Nyack, N.Y., sh…
1917Ceremonies - Independence Day, 1917 - The Liberty Flo…
1917Ceremonies - War Activities - NYACK, N.Y. Remnants of…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 Nyack’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 3,438 people in 1870 to 7,265 in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Nyack’s Wikipedia page.
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 Nyack post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Nyack is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #403 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 Nyack’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), 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.
