Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rouses Point’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rouses Point 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 Rouses Point’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 Rouses Point’s 4.1 sits below most of its state (32% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1783.
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 (±7.6 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Rouses Point’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Rouses Point was first settled around 1783 by Canadian and Nova Scotian refugees who were granted land in the Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugee Tract in reward for their services during the American Revolution.
Steamboats were a booming business on this part of the lake; the second commercial steamboat in the world was launched on Lake Champlain, with Rouses Point as its first port-of-call. Steamboat traffic continued on the lake for the next 100 years until displaced by the railroad. Edward Thurber built the first frame house in 1818. President James Monroe stayed there.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1783, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rouses Point’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1870 counted 1,266 people here.
How does Rouses Point rank for history?
Rouses Point 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.
How old are the homes in Rouses Point?
38% of Rouses Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1949.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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