Its Register listings are the Gold Seal Winery and the Western New York Wine Company. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1818.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pulteney’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pulteney 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pulteney’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 Pulteney’s 46.6 sits above most of its state (68% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1797.
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 (±5.5 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Pulteney’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlers arrived in this part of the Pulteney Tract in approximately 1797.
For a time the area was known as "Harmonyville." However, the actual town was formed in 1808 from the Town of Bath. Part of Pulteney was used to form the Town of Prattsburgh (1813) and part of the Town of Urbana (1848).
The "Pulteney Purchase" or "Pulteney Tract" was a section of land in the region of Steuben County purchased from Robert Morris by several English investors including Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet called "The Pulteney Association."
The Western New York Wine Company was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Passages that mention Pulteney, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the settlement of Steuben County, New York1853 · page 132Read the page →
Read the text
The first settlement in the town of Pulteney, was made on Bully Hill, by John Van Camp and D. Thompson, in 1797. The following are the names of other early settlers from 1799 to 1807 : — Sam.uel Miller, G. F. Fitz Simmons, Thomas Hoyt, Abraham Bennet, Ephraim Eggleston, John Kent, Joseph Hall, senior, Samuel Wallis, John Turner, John Ellis, Augustus Tyler, and Ezra Pel ton. John Gulick kept the first dry goods store in the town.*
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.
Timeline
Pulteney, 1797 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1797, according to Wikidata. Pulteney’s post office opened in 1818, and the census of 1820 counted 1,162 people here.
How does Pulteney rank for history?
Pulteney 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.
What is on the National Register in Pulteney?
Two places: the Gold Seal Winery (listed 2010) and the Western New York Wine Company (2014).
How old are the homes in Pulteney?
32% of Pulteney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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 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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