Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Borodino Hall and the Borodino District School #8. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1820.
The Spafford post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Borodino (1821), Spafford Hollow (1837) and South Spafford (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spafford is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings 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 Spafford’s 11.1 sits near the middle of its state (48% of New York towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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.
Spafford had its own post office from 1820 to 1915. Three 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 Spafford’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1940, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spafford’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Spafford.
Spafford was located within the former Central New York Military Tract.
The first European settler arrived in 1794, the same year Onondaga County was established.
The Town of Spafford was formed in 1811 from parts of the Towns of Marcellus, Sempronius and Tully.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Spafford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Borodino is situated in the northern part of the town of Spafford. It contains fortytwo dwelling houses and a population of some two hundred. It contains one M. E. Church, town hall, postoffice, two dry goods stores, proprietors Messrs. Churchill & Eadie, and Grinnell & Howe ; one hardware store, C. M. Rich ; one clothing store, Wm. Quick & Son ; one wagon shop, Cyrus
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
to open a road. This is believed to have been the first road of any kind made within the limits of the present town. It is the same that now leads from Spafford Corners to Borodino. In 1804 Isaac Hall settled on the farm since owned by Asahel Roundy, Esq., near Spafford Postoffice. The road was 56* cleared out from Farr's lot to the Corners, or Spaf-
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereElliott Anthony is born here
BuiltBorodino Hall is built
Born hereMartin Augustine Knapp is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spafford. 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 Spafford.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Spafford post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Spafford is more historic than 83% 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.
Two places: the Borodino Hall (listed 2006) and the Borodino District School #8 (2007).
29% of Spafford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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