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History · Sunset Bay

14% of Sunset Bay’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1899 on.

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Ken Winters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domain

What stands out about Sunset Bay’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Sunset Bay are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18993 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1960. Watch Sunset Bay change.Old housesHalf of Sunset Bay’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sunset Bay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sunset Bay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Sunset Bay on the map, 1899 to 1960

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sunset Bay. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sunset Bay on the 1899 USGS mapSunset Bay on the 1944 USGS mapSunset Bay on the 1960 USGS map1899Silver Creek 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 Sunset Bay.

The story so far

Sunset Bay, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sunset Bay yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sunset Bay is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hanover in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, Sunset Bay had a population of 470. Sunset Bay is adjacent to the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. On the reservation, adjacent to Sunset Bay, was previously home to a community of approximately 80 non-native residents who leased vacation homes. The Seneca Nation in 2012 declared the longstanding presence of the non-native residents an "illegal occupation" and drove them out of Sunset Bay.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 660 to 470 (-29%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Sunset Bay

Nobody well known was born in Sunset Bay itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Willis CarrierAmerican inventor · b. 1876
Jean WebsterAmerican novelist · b. 1876
Jennifer SuhrAmerican pole vaulter · b. 1982
Christian LaettnerAmerican basketball player · b. 1969
George AbbottAmerican writer and director · b. 1887
Anna Botsford ComstockAmerican academic, artist, educator, conservati… · b. 1854
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hanover1 historic placeA−

Questions about Sunset Bay’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.