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.
1884Sheet 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.
On the map
Theresa on the map, 1903 to 1958
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Theresa. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Theresa 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 Theresa.
The history of Theresa begins with the Native American cultures who lived in the area as early as 841 B.C. The first of the Native tribes to inhabit the town of Theresa was a group called the Meadowood Phase, who were early Woodland Indians according to the categorization of Dr. William A. Ritchie. This tribe is believed to be part of the early Adena culture and subsisted on hunting and gathering. Evidence of the tribe existing in the area was found at Muskellunge and Red lakes with finds of weapon points, nets, sinkers, and other various tools from needles to a beaver tooth wood scraper. Later, the Iroquois used the Theresa area as a hunting and fishing ground. Evidence supports that at one point the Iroquois had villages in the surrounding area and used the waterways of Theresa for trade and travel.
Passages that mention Theresa, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York1854 · page 245Read the page →
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The village of Theresa, on the west bank of Indian River, at the High Falls, possesses an immense water power, which has been but partially improved. There were in September, 1853, 2 grist mills with nine run of stones, 3 saw mills, 2 furnaces and shops, 1 machine shop, 1 plaster mill, 1 shingle mill, 1 wagon shop, 1 clothing works, 2 cabinet shops, 4 dry good stores, 4 groceries and drug stores, 2 inns, 1 marble shop, 1 tin shop, 1 tannery, 6 shoe shops, 4 blacksmith shops, 2 tailors, 2 saddlers,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Jefferson County, New York1878 · page 517Read the page →
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» The most disastrous fire which Theresa has ever known oomraenoed at midnight on the 12th of May, 1869, at the mills and shops on the south side of the lower bridge, on which it crossed, to spread devastation on the north side of the river. The property destroyed was as follows: One barn and 2 dwellings (one of these being the "mill house" built by Le Bay in 1811, the first house in Theresa); two saw-uiills,— Pool's and Fisher's; one wood-working shop, owned by 6. W. Flower ; G. Wilson's iron-working maehinc-shop ; a. saw-
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History of Jefferson County, New York1878 · page 516Read the page →
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There is no Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry in Theresa, neither any agricultural society. The old society in Alexandria held its second (and last) fair at Theresa in 1839, and the present society in that town has its grounds — as are also the grounds of the Redwood Driving Park — just across the line in Theresa, though both are institutions pertaining especially to the village of Redwood, to which the grounds are immediately contiguous.
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
Theresa, 1835 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.
Date?
2010