Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1807.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Palmyra’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palmyra is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #43 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 age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palmyra’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 Palmyra’s 849 sits above most of its state (95% of New York towns have fewer) while its 279 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% 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 (±7.9 points). Two sources give 1789.
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 Palmyra’s past
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.
The Town of Palmyra, originally called "Swift's Landing" after its founder John Swift and "District of Tolland," was created in 1789. The sole local encounter between natives and white settlers that resulted in deaths occurred that same year. The present name was adopted in 1796, reportedly to impress a new school teacher. There were almost one thousand people in the town in 1800.
The Erie Canal was completed up to Palmyra in 1822, although the canal was not completed to its western terminus until 1825. Palmyra is part of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.
In 1823, the Town of Macedon was formed from part of Palmyra's territory as part of the creation of Wayne County from Ontario County.
Passages that mention Palmyra, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A memorial of the celebration at Palmyra, N.Y. of the centennial Fourth of July, 1876, including the oration by Theodore Bacon, and a sketch of the early history of Palmyra, by Rev. Horace Eaton, D.D1876Read the page →
Read the text
Swift, was then for two reasons in the literary mood. First, he was in lceve with Miss Dosha Boughton, the first school-mistress ; secondly, he was interested in ancient history. Now as ancient Palmyra had a Zenobia, he doubtless thought that his modern Dosha should havea Palmyra. It is not strange that he should urge the name of the ancient City with felicity and success.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A memorial of the celebration at Palmyra, N.Y. of the centennial Fourth of July, 1876, including the oration by Theodore Bacon, and a sketch of the early history of Palmyra, by Rev. Horace Eaton, D.D1876Read the page →
Read the text
The Presbyterian Church was organized 1793. In regard to the place of its organization, there are conflicting statements ; one, that ‘t was in the house of John Swift,—another, with perhaps more accuracy, in the first school-house in East Palmyra. Their first edifice was built in East Palmyra in 1807. Their first edifice in the village was built in 1811 on the hill in connection with the old cemetery. It is a pleasant fancy that the gathering in of these churches from their dispersions and
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
Palmyra, 1789 to 1899
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1789, according to Wikidata. Palmyra’s post office opened in 1807, and the census of 1820 counted 3,724 people here.
How does Palmyra rank for history?
Palmyra is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Palmyra?
47% of Palmyra’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 1944.
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 the Library of Congress (2), 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.
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