Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Stratford post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Middle Sprite (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Stratford was named after Stratford, Connecticut.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Stratford’s history is told.
Stratford’s post office has been open since 1849. Another post office, Middle Sprite, 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Stratford.
The town comprises patents of various pre-Revolutionary grants, including part of the extensive land grants of Sir William Johnson. Settlement began circa 1800, by settlers from Connecticut. The town was formed in 1805 from the town of Palatine while still part of Montgomery County. Part of the town was removed in 1842 to create part of the town of Caroga.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nobody well known was born in Stratford itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Stratford post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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.
