Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1820.
The Sheldon post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Sheldon (1833) and Johnsonburg (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sheldon is more historic than 68% 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 Sheldon’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.
Sheldon had its own post office from 1811 to 1903. Two 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 Sheldon’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Sheldon.
The Town of Sheldon was founded in 1808 from part of the Town of Batavia. In 1811, the Town of Attica was formed from part of Sheldon, and the Towns of Bennington and Arcade were taken off in 1818. In 1835 a wave luxembourgish immigrants settled in Sheldon.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Sheldon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Biog. Notes: Wyatt Wier usually called Wier has come into possession of many family records of his grandfather #7913 Edgar Sheldon and his father, #7913x3 Henry Clay Sheldon. He also has a jocrnal and account book kept by his great grandfather #3251 Simeon Sheldon from 1820 until 1843 which was continued by Oddy Harmon the administrator of the estate until 1851.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sheldon. 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 Sheldon.
Between 887 and 2,794 people in every census since 1820.
20 censuses, 1820–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sheldon’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Sheldon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Sheldon post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Sheldon is more historic than 68% 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.
35% of Sheldon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (3), Wikipedia, 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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