Founding year: the first Port Dickinson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Port Dickinson’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Dickinson is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Port Dickinson’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 Port Dickinson’s 12.2 sits near the middle of its state (50% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±6.1 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 Port Dickinson’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 2,436 in 1940; 1,699 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Dickinson’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Port Dickinson on the map, 1904 to 1961
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Dickinson. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Binghamton sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Port Dickinson.
The village of Port Dickinson was incorporated in 1876. It takes its name from having once been a prosperous port on the now-extinct Chenango Canal, and in honor of United States Senator Daniel S. Dickinson. It is now a residential suburb of Binghamton. Port Dickinson is the only incorporated community within the town of Dickinson.
The Bevier-Wright House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
The Port Dickinson post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Port Dickinson rank for history?
Port Dickinson is more historic than 72% 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 Port Dickinson?
49% of Port Dickinson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1941.
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 Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
