History · Oriskany

Oriskany’s post office opened in 1816, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1990.

1816first post office

0on the National Register

35%homes built before 1940

4old photos & papers

3famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Oriskany’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Oriskany began

When was Oriskany founded?

1816

The Oriskany post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,450 in 19902020 census: 1,315210 years

How historic is Oriskany?

B⁺

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Oriskany post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Oriskany’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oriskany is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oriskany’s overall grade.

Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194034.7% of homes (±7.9) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NY town 12.3 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%

NewerOlder

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 Oriskany’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 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 Oriskany’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18953 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1955. Watch Oriskany change.Deep rootsA post office since 1816: 210 years of Oriskany.Old housesHalf of Oriskany’s homes were built before 1955.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oriskany’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oriskany’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewOriskany Creek, Summit Park: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Oriskany on the map, 1895 to 1955

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oriskany. 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 Oriskany.

Timeline

Oriskany, 1844 to 1952

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1844Born hereJ.H. McLaughlin is born here
1848Born hereWilliam Jay Gaynor is born here
1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1900In the archiveOriskany Creek, Summit Park
1952Born hereTom Carroll is born here

The story

How Oriskany came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oriskany.

Read it all →

The Oneida village of Oriska was established at the confluence of the Oriskany Creek and the Mohawk River before 1766. Oriska, sometimes also spelled as Ockrisk, Oriska, or Oriske, is believed to be a linguistic corruption of "Ol Hiskè" meaning "a place of nettles."

On August 5, 1777, during the American Revolution, Oriska was visited by the Tryon County militia led by Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer. The American-aligned militia was en route to Fort Stanwix to help lift a siege by allied British forces. Several dozen to one hundred Oneida joined Herkimer's militia for the trip.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Oriskany, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s4 items

1900Oriskany Creek, Summit Park

1900Summit Park

1900Path to boat house, Summit Park, Utica [sic], N.Y

1905The Pavilion, Summit Park, Utica [i.e. Oriskany], N.Y

1910s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Today2 recent

2010Oriskany, New York

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewOriskany Creek, Summit Park, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oriskany’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Oriskany, census by census

Between 1,315 and 1,459 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oriskany’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Oriskany

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

William Jay GaynorAmerican politician; Mayor of New York City fro… · b. 1848

J.H. McLaughlinAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1844

Tom CarrollAmerican baseball player · b. 1952

Questions about Oriskany’s history

What year was Oriskany founded?

The Oriskany post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Oriskany rank for history?

Oriskany is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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 Oriskany?

35% of Oriskany’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1955.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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