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B+History
History · Somers

Somers’ post office opened in 1811, and 7 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #512 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Most of Somers was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Elephant Hotel, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 41 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1790.

1811first post office
7on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Somers’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Somers began

When was Somers founded?

1811

The Somers post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, West Somers (1830), Somers Center (1851) and Primrose (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,297 in 17902020 census: 21,541215 years

How historic is Somers?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Somers post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Somers’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Somers is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #512 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Somers’ overall grade.
Founding era1811, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19408.3% of homes (±4.6) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register7 listings, 46 historic buildings, 21.6 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 32%

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 Somers’ 21.6 sits near the middle of its state (57% of New York towns have fewer) while its 46 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 (±4.6 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 Somers’ past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Somers, and 11 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1840 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18925 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1981. Watch Somers change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Somers’s post office has been open since 1811. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Somers
1811–today
West Somers
1830–1912
Somers Center
1851–1909
Baldwin Place
1879–today
Amawalk
1881–today
Primrose
1888–1904
Lincolndale
1909–today
Granite Springs
1912–today
Shenorock
1936–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AmawalkButlervilleGranite SpringsHeritage HillsHorton EstatesLake LincolndaleLake PurdyLincolndaleShenorockValley Pond EstatesWhitehall Corners
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Somers
IvandellSaint JosephsToddWarren

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

Help out

Start Somers’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLincoln 3842836312 ed4cfcab0c o: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Somers, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000180018501900195020002,082 in 1840Low: 1,117

Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

22 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

The story

How Somers came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Somers.

Read it all →

Somers was originally inhabited by Native Americans known as Kitchawanks, part of the Wappinger tribe, an Algonquian people who called the land Amapaugh, meaning "fresh water fish." This land was located in the eastern segment of an 83,000-acre (340 km2) tract King William III of England granted to Stephanus Van Cortlandt of New York City in 1697. The part of Van Cortlandt Manor that ultimately became Somers and Yorktown was known as the Middle District, or Hanover.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Somers, 1794 to 2005

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1794Born hereElias Cornelius is born here
  3. 19th century
  4. 1811Post officeThe Somers post office opens
  5. 1820BuiltElephant Hotel is built
  6. 1820BuiltSomers Town House is built
  7. 1830Post officeThe West Somers post office opens
  8. 1831BuiltAmawalk Friends Meeting House is built
  9. 1834Born hereElias Cornelius Benedict is born here
  10. 1849BuiltGerard Crane House is built
  11. 1851Post officeThe Somers Center post office opens
  12. 1862In the archiveMap of the towns of Somers & Yorktown, Westchester Co. New York
  13. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 20th century
  15. 1909Post officeThe Somers Center post office closes
  16. 1912Post officeThe West Somers post office closes
  17. 1913In the archiveLincoln 3842836312 ed4cfcab0c o
  18. 1977Born hereAndrew Mittendorf is born here
  19. 1992Born hereBrian Span is born here
  20. 1993In the archiveIBM Somers2
  21. 21st century
  22. 2005LandmarkElephant Hotel named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Somers, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Map of the towns of Somers & Yorktown, Westchester Co. New York1862Map of the towns of Somers & Yorktown, Westchester Co…Map
1910s1 item
Lincoln 3842836312 ed4cfcab0c o1913Lincoln 3842836312 ed4cfcab0c o
1920s–1980snothing 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
1990s2 items
IBM Somers21993IBM Somers2IBM Somers 31997IBM Somers 3
Today11 recent
NY 100 nb approaching NY 138, April 20262026NY 100 nb approaching NY 138, April 2026Muscoot Farm mansion, Somers, NY, April 20262026Muscoot Farm mansion, Somers, NY, April 2026US 202 wb at NY 116, May 20252025US 202 wb at NY 116, May 2025Marsh at midday Somers NY April 20252025Marsh at midday Somers NY April 2025Amawalk Reservoir dam and spillway from NY 35, May 20252025Amawalk Reservoir dam and spillway from NY 35, May 20…Lake Shenorock2013Lake ShenorockSomers2008SomersMt Zion Methodist Church2008Mt Zion Methodist ChurchGerard Crane House2008Gerard Crane HouseIvandell cannon2007Ivandell cannonUntitled photo2004Untitled photo
On the map

Somers on the map, 1892 to 1981

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

Somers on the 1892 USGS mapSomers on the 1928 USGS mapSomers on the 1944 USGS mapSomers on the 1960 USGS mapSomers on the 1981 USGS map1892Carmel 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 Somers.

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.

Lincoln 3842836312 ed4cfcab0c o
Retake this viewLincoln 3842836312 ed4cfcab0c o, 1913

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

7 listings protect 46 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmark
1
Elephant Hotel
historic buildings protected
46
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Somers Town House
Somers Town House, built 1820Gerard Crane House, built 1849Amawalk Friends Meeting House, built 1831Mt. Zion Methodist ChurchSomers Hamlet Historic DistrictWest Somers Methodist Episcopal Church and CemeteryElephant Hotel, built 1820★
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival3
Mid-19th Century3
Federal2
Early Republic2
Neoclassical1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals1
★ Landmark
Elephant HotelFederal · Built 1820
Somers Town HouseNeoclassical · Built 1820
Gerard Crane HouseGreek Revival · Built 1849
Amawalk Friends Meeting HouseBuilt 1831
Mt. Zion Methodist ChurchEarly Republic
Somers Hamlet Historic DistrictEarly Republic
West Somers Methodist Episcopal Church and CemeteryMid-19th Century

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Somers

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

See all →
Brian SpanAmerican soccer player · b. 1992
A
Andrew MittendorfAmerican soccer player · b. 1977
Elias CorneliusAmerican missionary · b. 1794
Elias Cornelius BenedictAmerican banker · b. 1834
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

North Salem3 historic placesALewisboro6 historic placesABedford11 historic placesAYorktown2 historic placesBGolden's Bridge1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Castle10 historic placesA−Jefferson Valley-YorktownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCarmel3 historic placesB+Yorktown Heights1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMahopacIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Somers’ history

What year was Somers founded?

The Somers post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Somers rank for history?

Somers is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #512 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.

What is on the National Register in Somers?

7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Elephant Hotel (a National Historic Landmark since 2005) and the Somers Town House (listed 1974, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Gerard Crane House and the Somers Hamlet Historic District, with 41 contributing buildings. 46 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Somers?

8% of Somers’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1980.

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 Wikimedia Commons (15), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.