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History · Port Leyden

Port Leyden dates to 1800, and 68% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1870.

1800founded
1on the National Register
68%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Port Leyden’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Port Leyden began

When was Port Leyden founded?

1800

Port Leyden dates its founding to 1800 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 977 in 18702020 census: 554226 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓

What stands out about Port Leyden’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Port Leyden’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19053 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1966. Watch Port Leyden change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1800: 226 years of Port Leyden.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Port Leyden’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Leyden’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Port Leyden came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Port Leyden.

Read it all →

A mill was built at the present site of the village around 1800, and the community was known as "Kelsey's Mills". The name was changed to "Port Leyden" around 1838 when the Black River Canal was being developed. The canal was completed to Port Leyden in 1850, but was not usable until 1851. The canal reached its northern terminus at Lyons Falls, a few miles north, in 1855. In 1900, a decision was made to abandon the canal between Lyons Falls and Boonville, effectively ending the status of Port Leyden as a canal port.

St. Mark's Church and the Edmund Wilson House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Port Leyden on the map, 1905 to 1966

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Leyden. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Port Leyden on the 1905 USGS mapPort Leyden on the 1940 USGS mapPort Leyden on the 1966 USGS map1905Port Leyden 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 Leyden.

Timeline

Port Leyden, 1800 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1800
    FoundingPort Leyden is established
  3. 1803Born hereLorenzo A. Kelsey is born here
  4. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Lewis County - Port Leyden - ED 25-16,…
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970In the archiveEDMUND WILSON HOUSE
By decade

Port Leyden, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Lewis County - Port Leyden - ED 25-16, ED 25-2318801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Le…
1890s–1960snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1970s1 item
EDMUND WILSON HOUSE1970EDMUND WILSON HOUSE
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, western Adirondacks, New York Sate, USA) 12012Gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, western Adirondacks…Glaciated knob of gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, western Adirondacks, New York Sate, USA) 62012Glaciated knob of gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, w…Glaciated knob of gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, western Adirondacks, New York Sate, USA) 52012Glaciated knob of gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, w…Glaciated knob of gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, western Adirondacks, New York Sate, USA) 32012Glaciated knob of gneiss (Proterozoic; Port Leyden, w…
Every building

Port Leyden, building by building, 1902–1909

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.

Port Leyden fire insurance map, 1902, sheet 11902Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Lewis County - Port Leyden - ED 25-16, ED 25-23
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Lewis County - Port Leyden - ED 25-16, ED 25-23, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Port Leyden’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Port Leyden

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Port Leyden, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 977

Between 462 and 977 people in every census since 1870.

15 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Leyden’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Port Leyden’s history

What year was Port Leyden founded?

In 1800, according to Wikidata. Port Leyden’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1870 counted 977 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.