Founding year: the first Remsen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Remsen’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Remsen is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Remsen’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 Remsen’s 6.0 sits near the middle of its state (38% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Remsen’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Remsen was named for Henry Remsen II, the original proprietor of the township and the inheritor of the Remsenburgh patent, which embraced some 48,000 acres (190 km2) in Oneida and Herkimer counties and was granted in 1766 (later regranted by the Legislature in 1787) to Remsen and four other New York merchants. Remsen, a New York City merchant and owner of Henry Remsen Jr. & Co., was the descendant of some of the earliest Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam.
Passages that mention Remsen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Oneida County, New York1878 · page 508Read the page →
Read the text
wards Esquire White opened a small grocery-store in a log building on the site of the present store, where he kept a few goods, principally to exchange for ashes ; this being the first store ever opened in the village of Remsen. . . . Esquire White subsequently put up a part of the yellow building adjoining the store, which is said to be the oldest frame building now in the town of Remsen." Broughton White, E.sq., sold out his store to John Mappa and Jacob Belticher,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-18981914Read the page →
Read the text
in the work, their church, the Utica Congregational Church, and this being the only ones then existing in Oneida County among the Welsh. Churches becoming established in Remsen, with unabated interest in the Bible Society, this branch of the original Welsh Society became known as 'The Welsh Bible Society of Steuben, Remsen and vicinities,' and later of Remsen, Steuben and vicinities; the latter name
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-18981914Read the page →
Read the text
The road from Steuben to Remsen village was opened about 1794, or possibly a little earlier, by men in the service of Baron Steuben, to provide a way for settlers on his patent to reach the primitive saw-mill constructed about this time at Remsen falls, the mill built by the Baron on Steuben creek a few years earlier having proved a failure owing to insufficient water-power.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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The Remsen post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Remsen rank for history?
Remsen is more historic than 82% 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 Remsen?
One place: the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church (listed 1988).
How old are the homes in Remsen?
34% of Remsen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
