Founding year: the first Spencerport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spencerport’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spencerport is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #521 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spencerport’s overall grade.
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 Spencerport’s 2.8 sits below most of its state (28% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1867.
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 Spencerport’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spencerport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Bergen 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 Spencerport.
Every building
Spencerport, building by building, 1897–1911
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.
1897Sheet 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.
In 1804, Daniel Spencer bought a farm about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) north of Ogden Center. When the Erie Canal opened, the farm, through which the canal passed at the Canawaugus Road, was sold to become the first village lots. As a port on the canal, the area was called "Spencer's Basin" and later changed to Spencerport.
On April 22, 1867, the New York State Legislature incorporated Spencerport as a village, and William Slayton was elected as its first mayor.
The Spencerport Methodist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Passages that mention Spencerport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York1908 · page 1308Read the page →
Read the text
William J. Ireland, president of the village of Spencerport, is giving to the city in this connection a public-spirited administration, calculated to advance the interests of the community at large and to work for progress, development and improvement along specific lines. He has also been chief of the fire department and has been closely associated with the interests of the village, stand-
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
Spencerport, 1899 to 1975
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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Spencerport, census by census
Grew from 591 people in 1870 to 3,685 in 2020, 6 times over.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spencerport’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Spencerport’s history
What year was Spencerport founded?
The Spencerport post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1867.
How does Spencerport rank for history?
Spencerport is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #521 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.
How old are the homes in Spencerport?
20% of Spencerport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1965.
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), 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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