Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are . Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
The Phoenix post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Phoenix is more historic than 90% 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 Phoenix’s 12.9 sits near the middle of its state (50% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 Phoenix’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Phoenix. 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 Phoenix.
From Wikipedia’s history of Phoenix.
At around 11:00 pm on September 23, 1916, Phoenix was nearly completely devastated by a fire that destroyed most of the business district, killing 1 person. The fire knocked out use of the fire fighting pumps that the village relied on. The fire lasted until early morning of the 24th.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Phoenix, cut from the printed page as they were published.
By act of legislature passed April 19, 1865, the territory at that time known as school district No. 12, of the town of Schroeppel, and all territory at that time included in the village of Phoenix, and which should be thereafter added to said village, was organized as a free-school district, under the name of the Phoenix free-school district, and power was by that act granted to esUiblish an academic department. A board of education was by that act constituted,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and organized as a separate and distinct town. The first annual meeting for the election of town ofiicers and the transaction of other municipal business was held at the house of James B. Richardson, in the village of Phoenix, March 5, 1833. At the first meeting there were 117 votes cast. In 1834, 97 ; in 1835, 125 ; in 1836, 191 ; in 1837, 159 ; in 1838, 218 ; in 1839, 285 ; and in 1840, 308.
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.
Born hereThaddeus Campbell Sweet is born here
Born hereMike Regan is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFire 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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The 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.
Between 872 and 2,617 people in every census since 1850.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Phoenix’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Phoenix post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Phoenix is more historic than 90% 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.
58% of Phoenix’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.1 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 (5), 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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2017
2017