Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Cliffy from Pelham, USA · CC BY 2.0More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #286 of 758 in New York. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1790.
Pelham dates its founding to 1788 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pelham is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #286 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.
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 Pelham’s 4.6 sits below most of its state (34% of New York towns have fewer) while its 6 listings outnumber those of 72% 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.
Lost half of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 8-fold.
22 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pelham’s Wikipedia page.
Pelham had its own post office from 1849 to 1893. Four other post offices 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 Pelham. 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 Pelham.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pelham.
In 1654, Thomas Pell bought the area within the present-day town from the Siwanoy Indians, establishing the vast Manor of Pelham. The Census of slaves, conducted in the Province of New York in 1755, listed 24 enslaved individuals in Pelham Manor.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Pelham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Joshua Eustace and John Hunter were incorporated as the East Chester Bridge Company, and authorized to build a toll-bridge from the farm of James Harvey, in the town of Pelham, to the point of Throgg's Neck called Dormer's Island. Within a few years a storm destroyed the bridge, and on April 12, 1816, the (General Assembly empowered the company to sell ts property and franchises at public auction, the purchaser to be-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
cially in its political life. He is an earnest Democrat and has held several political positions, both elective and by appointment. In 1863 he was appointed board clerk of the town of Pelham, and one year later was elected to the position, being re-elected to it for seven terms. In 1873 he was elected supervisor and re-elected to the office eleven times successively.
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.
BuiltBolton Priory is built
In the archivePlate 35- City Island, Pelham Township, Westchester Co. N.Y
In the archivePlates 53 and 54- Town of New Rochelle, Westchester Co. N.Y. - Town of Pelham, Westcheste…
In the archiveTown of Pelham. (with) Pelham-Manor. (From actual surveys and official records by G.W. Br…
Born hereHarry Babcock is born here
Born hereTell Berna is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveView of Long Island Sound near Pelham Manor
In the archivePelham Manor station 1910 postcard
BuiltPelham Picture House is built
In the archiveArchitects and their work, Electus D. Litchfield, Barr House, Pelham, New York. LOC gsc.5…7 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1910Pelham Manor station 1910 postcardPostcard
1917Pell Arms1931Architects and their work, Electus D. Litchfield, Bar…
1931Architects and their work, Electus D. Litchfield, Bar…
1948Bartow Mansion, Pelham, New York. LOC gsc.5a15458
1948Bartow Mansion, Pelham, New York. LOC gsc.5a15459
1948Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York. LOC gs…
1948Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York. LOC gs…
1948Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York. LOC gs…
1948Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York. LOC gs…
1948Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York. LOC gs…
1948Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York. LOC gs…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 Pelham’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.
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 1788, according to Wikidata. Pelham’s post office opened in 1849, and the first U.S. census counted 199 people here in 1790.
Pelham is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #286 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.
6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Bolton Priory (listed 1974, the first), and 1 structure.
65% of Pelham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.
1908