Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Orchard Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orchard Park is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #651 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Orchard Park’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 Orchard Park’s 9.8 sits near the middle of its state (45% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1850.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points).
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 →
What stands out about Orchard Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1803, Didymus C. Kinney and his wife, Phebe Hartwell Kinney, purchased land and built a cabin in the southwest corner of the township, which has since been turned into a museum. The following year, a migration of Quaker settlers began. The town was separated from the town of Hamburg in 1850 and was first named "Ellicott", after Joseph Ellicott, an agent of the Holland Land Company. Within months, the name was changed to the town of "East Hamburgh". On March 1, 1934, the town was renamed "Orchard Park" after its principal settlement. In the early 1900s, a large fire burned down most of the central part of the village of Orchard Park around South Buffalo Street.
In 1850, according to Wikidata. Orchard Park’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1860 counted 2,136 people here.
How does Orchard Park rank for history?
Orchard Park is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #651 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.
How old are the homes in Orchard Park?
16% of Orchard Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 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.
