Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Northrup Hill School District 10 and the Town Linke Church and Cemetery. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1860.
Rathbone dates its founding to 1773 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rathbone is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Rathbone’s 17.4 sits near the middle of its state (54% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rathbone’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltTown Linke Church and Cemetery is built
In the archiveCameron Mills (Village); Risingville (Village); Rathbone Business Notices.; Rathbone (Tow…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Rathbone.
The town was first settled circa 1773, and was first settled by Americans in.
In 1804, the town had an inn, saw mill, grist mill, 2 blacksmiths, and a wagon shop. In 1842, General Ransom Rathbone settled in the area and would open the first shop in the town.
Rathbone was formed from parts of three other pre-existing towns: Addison, Cameron and Woodhull in 1856.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rathbone. 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 Rathbone.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rathbone’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 695 and 1,381 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rathbone’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Rathbone itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Rathbone had its own post office from 1894 to 1967. Another post office, Derby, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1773, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rathbone’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1860 counted 1,381 people here.
Rathbone is more historic than 91% 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.
Two places: the Northrup Hill School District 10 (listed 1999) and the Town Linke Church and Cemetery (2000).
27% of Rathbone’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (8), 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) 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.
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