Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #497 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Stonehouse Farm. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
Oneonta dates its founding to 1842 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oneonta is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #497 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 Oneonta’s 2.0 sits below most of its state (25% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Another post office, Oneonta Plains, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oneonta. 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 Oneonta.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oneonta.
Indigenous ancestors of Algonquin and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans inhabited the land in the territory of Oneonta before European colonists settled in the area. The Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy are believed to have emerged and gained dominance prior to the 15th century; they were in place at the time of early French and Dutch colonization.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Oneonta, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Oneonta was incorporated in 1848, and reincorporated in 1871. The following have officiated as presidents of the village since its reincorporation, viz.: 1871, W. Gillett; 1872, Samuel II. Case; 1873, James II. Keyca; 1874, Charles E.Bunn; 1875, Anthony White; 1876, M.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This church was organized in 1830 by Rev. George Ilannor, who was tho preacher in charge of the circuit which included Oneonta Plains, who at the solicitation of David T. Evans, of Oneonta, came to this place and formed a class, of which David T. Evans and David T. Clarke were leaders. Among the members of this class were Elias Brewer, D. T. Evans and wife, D. T. Clarke and wife, Jacob Deitz, Esq., and wife, and Caleb Potter and wife.
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 hereCarleton Watkins is born here
Born hereHenry E. Huntington is born here
In the archiveOneonta, N.Y
In the archiveOneonta Viaduct
In the archive"Oneonta," Oneonta, N.Y
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJerry Jeff Walker is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Oneonta’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.
Between 1,061 and 16,030 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oneonta’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.
In 1842, according to Wikidata. Oneonta’s post office opened in 1839, and the census of 1870 counted 1,061 people here.
Oneonta is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #497 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.
One place: the Stonehouse Farm (listed 1980).
25% of Oneonta’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, 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.
1906
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1910