Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 191 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 1820.
The Richfield post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richfield is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age 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 Richfield’s 1,021 sits above most of its state (96% of New York towns have fewer) while its 199 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Richfield’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Richfield.
Richfield Springs was called "Big Medicine Waters" by the local natives.
From the Gazetteer of the State of New York by J. H. French, published by R. Pearsall Smith, Syracuse, N. Y. 1860:
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Richfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Congregational church of Richfield (now the First Presbyterian) was organized at a meeting of citizens of the town of Richfield, called at the house of Jacob Brewster, in said town, in February, 1803, as the First Congregational ■ society of Richfield. Jabez B. Hyde, Seth Allen, John Woodbury, Obadiah Beardsley, and Martin Luce were the first trustees of said society.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Richfield was formed from Otsego, April 10, 1792. It is the extreme northern town of Otsego County. In form it is an oblong square, about eight miles AllMSTllONa.
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.
Born hereJohnson Niles is born here
Born hereOrville Robinson is born here
Born hereAnson G. Henry is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richfield. 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 Richfield.
Between 1,502 and 2,711 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Richfield’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Richfield had its own post office from 1806 to 1933.
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.
The Richfield post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Richfield is more historic than 98% 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.
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Baker Octagon Barn (listed 1984, the first), and 3 historic districts, the West Main Street-West James Street Historic District, the East Main Street Historic District and the Church Street Historic District, with 191 contributing buildings. 199 historic buildings in all.
44% of Richfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1947.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
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