Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #61 of 758 in New York. What drives it
30 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and six historic districts with 601 buildings between them. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1790.
Southold dates its founding to 1640 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Southold is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #61 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Southold’s 267 sits above most of its state (85% of New York towns have fewer) while its 639 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveUntitled photoBuiltGildersleeve, Andrew, Octagonal Building is built
BuiltHorton Point Lighthouse is built
BuiltBrecknock Hall is built
In the archive1873 Beers Map of Riverhead, Long Island, New York (Southhampton) - Geographicus - Riverh…
BuiltRace Rock Light Station is built
In the archiveJohn Green Huntting
In the archiveAlvah Glover Salmon
In the archiveSuffolk County, V. 2, Double Page Plate No. 11 (Map bounded by Long Island Sound, South H…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSouthold, NY, Main Street, c.1915
Born hereMike Wheeler is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Southold.
Algonquian-speaking tribes, related to those in New England across Long Island Sound, lived in eastern Long Island before European colonization. The western portion of the island was inhabited by bands of Lenape, whose language was also one of the Algonquian languages.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Southold, cut from the printed page as they were published.
" II. And be it further enacted, that the poor of the town of Southold, on the first Monday of April next, shall afterwards be divided by the town of Southold and the town of River Head, in such proportions as the supervisors of the county, at their next annual meeting, shall direct, and the contingent charges and expenses of the town of Southold that have already arisen, or shall arise before the first Monday in April next, shall be assessed,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
" The highway from Peconic River to Southold to be in ye usual road from ye river to Mattatuck already laid out, four poles wide at ye least, ye trees generally marked on ye south side of ye way; and at Mattatuck ye highway to be on ye north side of ye pond, and soe directly leading to ye old road to ye town of Southold, and soe through the street eastward to end in the lane on ye west side of Stephen Bayley his house, and soe eastward
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.
7 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Southold. 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 Southold.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Southold’s page.
Retake this view · +15Lost a third of its people between 1790 and 1800, then grew more than tenfold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Southold’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Southold’s post office has been open since 1802. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cutchogue Cemetery · East Marion Cemetery · Green Hill Cemetery · Hashamomack Cemetery · Latham Cemetery · Laurel Cemetery · New Bethany Cemetery · Old Bethany Cemetery · Old Burying Ground · Old Burying Ground of First Presbyterian Church · Orient Central Cemetery · Orient Congregational Cemetery · Sacred Heart Cemetery · Saint Agnes Cemetery · Saint Patrick Cemetery · Sterling Cemetery · Terry Cemetery · Terry Hill Cemetery · Willow Hill Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1640, according to Wikidata. Southold’s post office opened in 1802, and the first U.S. census counted 3,219 people here in 1790.
Southold is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #61 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.
30 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 21 buildings, among them the Old House, The (a National Historic Landmark since 1961), 6 historic districts with 601 contributing buildings, 1 structure, and 1 object. 639 historic buildings in all.
24% of Southold’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (29), 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.
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