Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1907 on and old-book passages.
The Phelps post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Phelps is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. 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 Phelps’ 17.7 sits near the middle of its state (54% of New York towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Phelps’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Phelps.
The town was part of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. The region was first settled around 1788. The town was formed in 1796 and was formerly known as "Sullivan." The town of Phelps is named after one of the original proprietors. The community was incorporated in 1855.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Phelps, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Ossian was one of the early sales of Phelps and Gorham, to Jeremiah Wadsworth, who sold it to Robert Troup. It was included in the agencies of James Wadsworth, under whose auspicies its sale and settlement commenced. A saw mill vas built there in 1806. Frederick Covert, Win. Boyle, Samuel M'Crea, Richard Porter, Joshua Carpenter, Elijah Belknap, James Rooker, Wm.. Lemen, James Gregory, and James Boylan, had became purchasers, and it is presumed most of them settlers in 1807. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Indian grant, in the now town of Leicester; and soon after, squatters began to locate on the Indian Flats of the Genesee and Canascraga. Settlement had now commenced under the auspices of Phelps and Gorham. In 1789, there were two or ihree families in what is now Lima, (or two or three had made a beginning there.) The advent of the Wadsworths was in 1790. In '91, settlement commenced under the auspices of Mr. Williamson, at Williams-
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Phelps’ 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.
The Phelps post office opened in 1812, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Phelps is more historic than 91% 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.
60% of Phelps’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.2 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 (6), Wikipedia 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.
1907
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