Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Potter’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Potter is more historic than 93% 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Potter’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 Potter’s 64.1 sits above most of its state (71% of New York towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). Two sources give 1832.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Potter’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Potter was founded on April 26, 1832, when the town separated from nearby the Town of Middlesex. Previously, the region as a whole was known as District of Augusta. The town was initially known as "Potter's Town," as the 42,430 acres (171.7 km2) area had been purchased by Arnold Potter a son of Judge William Potter. In December 1856, and additional 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) were taken from Middlesex (Modern Potter contains 34.5 square miles (89 km2)).
Early settlers of the time included Rowes Perry, Benjamin Brown, Jesse Brown and Joshua Brown, Elias Gilbert, Jabez French, Abraham Lane, Isaac Lane and Jacob Lane, Francis Briggs and Peleg Briggs Jr., Edward Craft, David Southerland and John Griffin.
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.
In 1832, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Potter’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1840 counted 2,245 people here.
How does Potter rank for history?
Potter is more historic than 93% 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.
What is on the National Register in Potter?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Arnold Potter House (listed 1994, the first). 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Potter?
38% of Potter’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1969.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
