Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #573 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Most of Ramapo was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1820.
Ramapo dates its founding to 1791 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ramapo is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #573 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Ramapo ranks #198 on History.
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 Ramapo’s 2.6 sits below most of its state (27% of New York towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Ramapo had its own post office from 1825 to 1954. Eight other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ramapo’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ramapo.
The present-day town was originally inhabited by the Munsee, a band of the Lenape nation. Their descendants now live on Stag Hill in Mahwah, New Jersey, where they form the New Jersey-recognized Ramapo Lenape Nation.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ramapo, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The New Jersey and New York Railroad Company was organized April 3d 1880. As at present run this road enters the town of Ramapo at Spring Valley, and proceeding almost due north, leaves the town about a mile and a half north of Pomona station. Along its line in the town are Spring Valley, Union Station, New Hempstead, Alexis Station, and Pomona.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
But a short distance above this factory there is another, belonging to a fine estate situated just on the eastern side of the village of Spring Valley, a portion of it being in the town of Ramapo. In the time of the war of 1812, this property was owned by Cornelius Blauvelt, and the water power was utilized by him for running a saw and grist mill. At what time he sold it, is uncertain, but it was used by the purchaser, James Eckerson, for
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.
BuiltOld Sloatsburg Cemetery is built
BuiltGurnee-Sherwood House is builtBuiltEnglish Church and Schoolhouse is built
Born hereCharles Mulford Robinson is born here
Born hereHelen Morgan Hamilton is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltUS Post Office-Suffern is built
2011Ramapo-20110831-00082
2011Provident Bank Ballpark
2011PortJervisWashoutIrene
2011Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)- IMG…
2011Lake Welch Beach
2011Boulders Team
2010Viola NY
2009Ramapo NY View
2009NY45NorthernTerminus
2009DaytimeTorneValley
2008NewSquareElectionSign
2007NY45SouthernBegin
2007CR80WesternJunction
2007CR41NorthernTerminus
2006Town of
2005Ramapo Torne
2002Hillcrest NY 2002 Pierce Dash Midmount PlatformEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ramapo. 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 Ramapo.
Grew from 2,072 people in 1820 to 148,919 in 2020, more than tenfold.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ramapo’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.
In 1791, according to Wikidata. Ramapo’s post office opened in 1797, and the census of 1820 counted 2,072 people here.
Ramapo is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #573 of 758 in New York. 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.
22 listings: 19 buildings, among them the Sloat House (listed 1974, the first), 1 site, 1 structure, and 1 object. 39 historic buildings in all.
9% of Ramapo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (22), 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), 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.
