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A−History
History · Solon

Solon dates to 1794, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Hatheway Homestead. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1820.

1794founded
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Solon began

When was Solon founded?

1794

Solon dates its founding to 1794 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,262 in 18202020 census: 1,063232 years

How historic is Solon?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1813.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Solon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Solon is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Solon’s overall grade.
Founding era1794, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194020.9% of homes (±9.3) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 22.2 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder

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 Solon’s 22.2 sits near the middle of its state (58% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

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 (±9.3 points). Two sources give 1794.

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 Solon’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Solon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1979. Watch Solon change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1794: 232 years of Solon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Solon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Solon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Solon, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018501900195020002,426 in 1840Low: 483

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.

20 censuses, 1820–2010.

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

On the map

Solon on the map, 1903 to 1979

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

Solon on the 1903 USGS mapSolon on the 1944 USGS mapSolon on the 1955 USGS mapSolon on the 1979 USGS map1903Cortland 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 Solon.

The story

How Solon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Solon.

Read it all →

The region was part of the Central New York Military Tract used to pay soldiers of the American Revolution. Solon was first settled in 1794.

The town was created from part of the town of Homer in 1798, before the formation of Cortland County. Solon lost territory to the towns of Truxton (1811) and Taylor (1849).

The population of the town reached a peak of 2,311 in 1840. By 1865, the population had dropped to 995.

The Hatheway Homestead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Solon, 1859–1889

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

he answered, To old age. However, when Pisistratus had fully established himself, he made his court to Solon, and treated him with so much kindness and respect, that Solon became, as it were, his counsellor, and gave sanction to many of his proceedings. He observed the greatest part of Solon's laws…
Plutarch's lives of Romulus, Lycurgus, Solon, Pericles, Cato, Pompey, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Demosthenes, Cicero, Mark Antony, Brutus, and others, and his comparisons. With notes, critical and historical1889 · page 96Read the page →
Read the text

he answered, To old age. However, when Pisistratus had fully established himself, he made his court to Solon, and treated him with so much kindness and respect, that Solon became, as it were, his counsellor, and gave sanction to many of his proceedings. He observed the greatest part of Solon's laws, showing himself the example, and obliging his friends to follow it Thus, when he was accused of murder before the court of areopagus, he appeared in a

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Truxton. — The town of Truxton was organized from the south half of the military town of Fabius, April 8, 1808. It also embraces four tiers of lots taken from the north part of Solon. As we look back over the dim vestiges of the past, and behold the hardy pioneer of civilizationpenetrating the boun…
Pioneer history1859 · page 207Read the page →
Read the text

Truxton. — The town of Truxton was organized from the south half of the military town of Fabius, April 8, 1808. It also embraces four tiers of lots taken from the north part of Solon. As we look back over the dim vestiges of the past, and behold the hardy pioneer of civilizationpenetrating the boundary line which now marks the northern limits of Cortland county, we feel that his was a hazardous

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

Solon, 1794 to 1939

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1794
    FoundingSolon is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1813Post officeThe Solon post office opens
  5. 1815Born hereCyrus M. Hawley is born here
  6. 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 2,426
  7. 1868Born hereNathan Lewis Miller is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1939Post officeThe Solon post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Solon

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Hatheway Homestead
Hatheway Homestead
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Hatheway HomesteadGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Solon

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

See all →
Nathan Lewis MillerAmerican judge · b. 1868
Cyrus M. HawleyAssociate Justice of the Territorial Utah Supre… · b. 1815
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Solon had its own post office from 1813 to 1939.

Solon
1813–1939
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Maybury Mills
Gone or out of use
Baker SchoolschoolLog SchoolschoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 8schoolShuler SchoolschoolSyrian SchoolschoolWhite Schoolhouseschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Solon
AtwoodLoopeMaplewood

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

FreetownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCortlandville4 historic placesATaylor3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTruxton1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Solon’s history

What year was Solon founded?

In 1794, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Solon’s post office opened in 1813, and the census of 1820 counted 1,262 people here.

How does Solon rank for history?

Solon is more historic than 80% 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.

What is on the National Register in Solon?

One place: the Hatheway Homestead (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Solon?

21% of Solon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1984.

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).

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.