Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sinclairville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Dunkirk 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 Sinclairville.
The village was founded in 1809 after the American Revolutionary War by Major Samuel Sinclear as "Sinclearville". The area was previously inhabited for hundreds of years by the Seneca people of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) who, as allies of the British during the war, were forced to cede most of their lands to the United States and New York state. Most of the Iroquois migrated to Upper Canada, where they were given lands by the Crown.
The village of Sinclairville was incorporated in 1887. Sinclairville is referred to by residents as "the heart of Chautauqua County".
Peaked at 772 in 1970; 579 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sinclairville’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Sinclairville, 1875–1921
Passages that mention Sinclairville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 189Read the page →
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Sinclairville station is in the village of Sinclairville. A little more than one-third of the corporate limits of the village and much the smaller proportion of its population lies in Gerry.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chautauqua County, New York1894 · page 892Read the page →
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Sinclairville station is in the village of Sinclairville. A little more than one-third of the corporate limits of the village and much the smaller proportion of its population lies in (lerry.
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History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people1921 · page 35Read the page →
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In 1812 the town of Ellicott, with James Prendergast, the founder of Jamestown, as its supervisor, the town of Gerry, with Samuel Sinclair, the founder of Sinclairville, as its supervisor, and the town of Hanover, with Nedebiah Angell, the founder of the "Angell Settlement," as its supervisor, were erected as new towns.
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History of Chautauqua County, New York1875 · page 257Read the page →
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attorney at law; and from January, 1855, to the close of 1858 — 4 years — surrogate of the county. In 1832, a school-house was first built; schools having been previously kept in a school-house built in 1816, in the town of Gerry, adjacent to Sinclairville. Early in 1849, Sinclairville was made a station on the telegraph line leading from Fredonia to Pittsburgh. This line was afterwards discontinued. In 1852, the Fredonia and Sinclairville plank road was constructed from Fredonia, through Sinclairville, to EUicott. It was built principally through the exertions of the people of Sinclairville.
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
Sinclairville, 1809 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
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.
1904Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - New York - Chautauqua County - Sinclairville - ED 7-7, ED 7-55, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sinclairville’s page.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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