Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #491 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1820.
Stephentown dates its founding to 1765 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stephentown is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #491 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Stephentown’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Stephentown’s post office has been open since 1815. Six 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 Stephentown’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Stephentown’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Stephentown.
Stephentown was first settled around 1765. The town was formed in 1788, from the East Manor of Rensselaerwyck District. The Stephentown pioneers were from New England, primarily Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereZadock Pratt is born here
Born hereEzra Slocum Carr is born here
In the archiveCarpenter Home Stephentown (501) Restored
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRoy Face is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Stephentown. 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 Stephentown.
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 Stephentown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1765, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Stephentown’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1820 counted 2,592 people here.
Stephentown is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #491 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.
26% of Stephentown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1982.
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), 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.
1879
2025
2018
2009
2009
