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History · Salamanca

Salamanca dates to 1870, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.

1870founded
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
12famous people
From Salamanca’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Salamanca began, and where its name came from

When was Salamanca founded?

1870

Salamanca dates its founding to 1870 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 2,531 in 18802020 census: 470156 years

How did Salamanca get its name?

Salamanca was named after José de Salamanca, a Spanish nobleman and cabinet minister of the mid-19th century.

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1837. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Salamanca’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Every building

Salamanca, building by building, 1888–1918

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.

Salamanca fire insurance map, 1888, sheet 11888Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Salamanca, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 9,577

Peaked at 9,577 in 1930; 5,929 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Salamanca’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Salamanca on the map, 1922 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Salamanca. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Salamanca on the 1922 USGS mapSalamanca on the 1943 USGS mapSalamanca on the 1962 USGS mapSalamanca on the 1979 USGS map1922Randolph sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Salamanca.

The story

How Salamanca came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Salamanca.

Read it all →

What is now known as the city of Salamanca was originally two separate communities, one on Little Valley Creek and the other on Great Valley Creek; the westernmost one of the two was called "Hemlock", a name derived from the numerous hemlock trees throughout the surrounding mountains. The eastern community (from modern-day Conrath Avenue eastward) was Kill Buck; the eastern half of what is now Kill Buck remains an unincorporated hamlet independent of the city of Salamanca. Hemlock was later renamed "West Salamanca" and (although it was marked on road signs as late as the 1990s) was eventually incorporated into the single city of Salamanca. The city was incorporated in 1913.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Salamanca in 1908

Passages that mention Salamanca, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Minor Churches Among the sacred edifices of Salamanca, next to the two cathedrals, ranks the church and convent of the Dominicans, variously known as Santo Domingo and San Esteban. The Dominicans, on their establishment at Salamanca in the year
Leon, Burgos and Salamanca1908 · page 140Read the page →
Read the text

Minor Churches Among the sacred edifices of Salamanca, next to the two cathedrals, ranks the church and convent of the Dominicans, variously known as Santo Domingo and San Esteban. The Dominicans, on their establishment at Salamanca in the year

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
proverb, ' nor pen sword.' The history of Salamanca illustrated this truth. Its people were doughty warriors and learned scholars. The name of Salamanca was feared by Moor and Portuguese, as much as it was respected in all the halls of learning of the mediaeval world. The seat of a university which…
Leon, Burgos and Salamanca1908 · page 96Read the page →
Read the text

proverb, ' nor pen sword.' The history of Salamanca illustrated this truth. Its people were doughty warriors and learned scholars. The name of Salamanca was feared by Moor and Portuguese, as much as it was respected in all the halls of learning of the mediaeval world. The seat of a university which all but successfully competed for pre-eminence with Oxford and

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.

Timeline

Salamanca, 1837 to 1947

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Bucktooth post office opens
  3. 1856Born hereMary Joseph Dempsey is born here
  4. 1861Post officeThe Bucktooth post office closes
  5. 1870
    FoundingSalamanca is established
  6. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York (NY) - Cattaraugus County - Salamanca - …
  7. 1898Born hereGordon Canfield is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1908In the archiveBuffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway yard in East Salamanca 1908 postcard
  10. 1911In the archiveNew High School - Salamanca, N.Y
  11. 1915Born hereRay Evans is born here
  12. 1922On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1924Born herePaul Owens is born here
  14. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 9,577
  15. 1947In the archiveErie Berkshire locomotive turntable
By decade

Salamanca, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York (NY) - Cattaraugus County - Salamanca - ED 5-100 to 113
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York (NY) - Cattaraugus County - Salamanca - ED 5-100 to 113, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Salamanca’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

12 famous people were born in Salamanca

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, Bucktooth, opened and closed inside today’s town.

1cemetery inside Salamanca
Crawford

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Salamanca’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Salamanca’s history

What year was Salamanca founded?

In 1870, according to Wikidata. Salamanca’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1880 counted 2,531 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.