The Philadelphia post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sterlingville (1839) and Whitney's Corners (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,167 in 18302020 census: 1,975203 years
How historic is Philadelphia?
B+
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Philadelphia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Philadelphia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Philadelphia is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Philadelphia’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 Philadelphia’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 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 Philadelphia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first settled by Europeans circa 1804. A grist mill was built in 1804 on the Indian River, adjacent to the north side of the large waterfall in the village. The mill was operated until it was dismantled in the 1970s. The town of Philadelphia was formed in 1821 from part of the town of Le Ray. In 1872, the community of Philadelphia set itself off from the town by incorporating as a village.
In 1959, the Indian River Central High School opened, serving students from the towns of Philadelphia, Theresa, Antwerp, Leray, and Pamelia.
The Sterlingville Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
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 Philadelphia post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Philadelphia rank for history?
Philadelphia is more historic than 66% 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.
How old are the homes in Philadelphia?
30% of Philadelphia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
