Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1820.
The Ripley post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1817. Five smaller post offices, Quincy (1825), East Ripley (1864) and South Ripley (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ripley is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Ripley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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.
Ripley’s post office has been open since 1816. Five 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 Ripley’s history is told.
Peaked at 3,181 in 1980; 2,310 people lived here in 2020.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ripley’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ripley.
Ripley was first settled circa 1804 in the vicinity of Ripley village. The town was established in 1817 from part of the town of Portland.
Much of the economy of the town in recent years has been based on growing fruit, especially Concord grapes.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ripley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
225 Ripley — One of the towns of the "Grape Belt" of Chautauqua county. Ripley's 31,110 acres are largely devoted to the grape industry, and in the village of Ripley the Randall Grape Juice Company is located, that concern constituting one of its most important industries. Ripley is the extreme western town of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
town of Portland was passed April 9, 1813, but the town as originally created did not long continue. An act, passed March 1, 1816, erected the town of Ripley as at present constituted, and in addition took from Portland all of the present town of Westfield lying west of Chautauqua creek. Friction arose between the people of the village of Westfield and Port-
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 hereWilliam Spencer Newbury is born here
Born hereRichard T. Ely is born here
In the archiveRipley (Township)
Born hereCharles Mann Hamilton is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ripley. 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 Ripley.
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 Ripley’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Ripley post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1817.
Ripley is more historic than 72% 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.
48% of Ripley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 (6), 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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