Owasco’s post office opened in 1814, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #336 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Owasco Reformed Church and the Lakeside Park. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1820.
The Owasco post office opened in 1814, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Degroff (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,290 in 18202020 census: 3,552212 years
How historic is Owasco?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Owasco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Owasco’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Owasco is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #336 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Owasco’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 Owasco’s 17.1 sits near the middle of its state (54% of New York towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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 (±6.2 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 Owasco’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In early times, Owasco was home to the Cayuga, who lived primarily between Owasco and Cayuga lakes, which lay between the territory of the Onondaga and Seneca. Jesuits founded missions among the Cayuga in the mid-17th century. In 1660, there were approximately 1,500 Cayuga.
The land was first settled by Europeans around 1792, by a man named Herman Mesgow.
After the American Revolution, most Cayuga relocated to Canada after the Treaty of Canandaigua in 1794, although some bands were allowed small reservations in New York. New York made separate purchases and leases of land from the Indians, which were not ratified by the US Congress.
The town of Owasco was formed in 1802 from the town of Aurelius.
Passages that mention Owasco, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cayuga County, New York1879 · page 37Read the page →
Read the text
town, rising in the Tyler Spring in Auburn, and Bread, or Putnam Brook, flowing centrally through the town, and having its head-waters in the town of Owasco, are the principal streams ; the latter is a canal feeder, and both empty into the Seneca River.
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.
Timeline
Owasco, 1814 to 1904
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 Owasco post office opened in 1814, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Owasco rank for history?
Owasco is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #336 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.
What is on the National Register in Owasco?
Two places: the Owasco Reformed Church (listed 2010) and the Lakeside Park (1989).
How old are the homes in Owasco?
27% of Owasco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.
1904
Date?
2009
2006
2006