Founding year: the first Saugerties post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Saugerties’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saugerties is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #77 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Saugerties’ 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 Saugerties’ 219 sits above most of its state (83% of New York towns have fewer) while its 85 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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 Saugerties’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the 1650s, Barent Cornelis Volge operated a sawmill on the Sawyer's Kill, supplying lumber for the manor of Rensselaerswick. He had secured a title from the Esopus Sachem to this land sometime before 1663. Volge likely left the area at the outbreak of the first Esopus War in 1658. The "footpath to Albany" was not laid out until 1670. In April 1677, Governor Edmund Andros purchased land from the Esopus Indian Kaelcop, chief of the Amorgarickakan band, for the price of a piece of cloth, a blanket, some coarse fiber, a loaf of bread, and a shirt. The Mynderse House was built by John Persen, formerly of Kingston, an early mill owner, circa 1685.
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Saugerties, 1880–1902
Passages that mention Saugerties, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The early history of Saugerties, 1660-18251902 · page 253Read the page →
Read the text
Minister, Elders and Deacons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Kaatsbaan in the town of Kingston, in Ulster Country.” When the town of Saugerties was organized in 1811 this title became a misnomer, and as the town grew and the consistory had charge of the religious interests of the whole town including Saugerties village, Blue Mountain, Malden and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1880Read the page →
Read the text
•• In ISdl, Silas lirninard, a bridge-builder of Connecticut, while engaged in his calling in the town of Saugerties, learned of the blue- ,t,iiie quarry at Coeymnns and visited it. On returning to Saugerties be found the same class of stone on the farm of William Van Valkenturg, situate three miles west of the village of Saugerties, and purchased 20 acres of said farm for $20111), and opened thereon a quarry.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The early history of Saugerties, 1660-18251902 · page 218Read the page →
Read the text
For twelve years there was no further conveyance of land in the town of Saugerties. The four Meals and Hayes grants of i685-87 had been passing through different hands without Anything being done towards settlement upon them. On the 16th of August, 1712, the large patent covering so much of the village of Saugerties was deeded to John Persen, who
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
Saugerties, 1867 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Saugerties post office opened in 1806, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Saugerties rank for history?
Saugerties is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #77 of 758 in New York. 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 Saugerties?
61% of Saugerties’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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), 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.
1875
1875
1875
1875
1875