The story
Read it all →How Pembroke came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Pembroke.
Pembroke was established from part of the town of Batavia in 1812.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Pembroke
Pembroke dates to 1804, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #299 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Mount Pleasant. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1820.
1804founded
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Pembroke began
When was Pembroke founded?
1804
Pembroke dates its founding to 1804 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
First census: 2,576 in 18202020 census: 4,264222 years
How historic is Pembroke?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1813.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pembroke’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pembroke is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #299 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 Pembroke’s overall grade.
Founding era1804, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194035.3% of homes (±8.0) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 5 historic buildings, 11.9 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 61%
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 Pembroke’s 11.9 sits near the middle of its state (49% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 points). Two sources give 1804.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Pembroke’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pembroke, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pembroke are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1830 and 1840, then more than doubled.Deep rootsEstablished in 1804: 222 years of Pembroke.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Pembroke had its own post office from 1813 to 1935. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pembroke
South Pembroke
Corfu
North Pembroke
Indian Falls
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Antones's Mobile Home ParkBrick House CornersCookvilleCorfuEast PembrokeIndian FallsNorth PembrokePembroke Center
Gone or out of use
Lehigh StationlocaleSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 1school
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pembroke
Evergreen HillHillsideIndian FallsNorth PembrokeOld Buffalo Road
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Pembroke’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pembroke’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Pembroke, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1830 and 1840, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pembroke’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Pembroke in 1895
Passages that mention Pembroke, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Pembroke, N. H. 1730-18951895 · page 368Read the page →
Read the text
1892, Sept. 26, Samuel Joyal to Elmenore Poulin, both of Pembroke. 1892, Oct. 8, Earnest Bouchard to Agnes Cotta, both of Pembroke. 1892, Nov. 20, Omer Gosselieu of Canada to Victoria Savoie, of Pembroke.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Pembroke, N. H. 1730-18951895 · page 367Read the page →
Read the text
1889, Oct. 16, Wilfred Doucet of Pembroke to Mary B. Langeuin of Laconia. 1889, Oct. 27, Emilien Martel to Philomeue Gamelin, both of Pembroke. 1889, Oct. 27, Alex Champlain to Eva Rheaume, both of Pembroke.
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
Pembroke, 1804 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1804FoundingPembroke is established
- 1813Post officeThe Pembroke post office opens
- 1819Post officeThe South Pembroke post office opens
- 1832Post officeThe South Pembroke post office closes
- 1839Post officeThe Corfu post office opens
- 20th century
- 1935Post officeThe Pembroke post office closes
- 1950
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 4,530
By decade
Pembroke, decade by decade
2023
2023
2017
2015
2011On the map
Pembroke on the map, 1950 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pembroke. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Corfu sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pembroke.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Pembroke
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Mount Pleasant
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Pembroke’s history
What year was Pembroke founded?
In 1804, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pembroke’s post office opened in 1813, and the census of 1820 counted 2,576 people here.
How does Pembroke rank for history?
Pembroke is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #299 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 Pembroke?
One place: the Mount Pleasant (listed 1984).
How old are the homes in Pembroke?
35% of Pembroke’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1959.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.