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History · Town Line

Town Line’s post office opened in 1831, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1905 on.

1831first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Town Line began

When was Town Line founded?

1831

The Town Line post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,334195 years
Founding year: the first Town Line post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Town Line’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 Town Line are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19055 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1982. Watch Town Line change.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of Town Line.Old housesHalf of Town Line’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Town Line’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Town Line’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

Town Line on the map, 1905 to 1982

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

Town Line on the 1905 USGS mapTown Line on the 1948 USGS mapTown Line on the 1950 USGS mapTown Line on the 1965 USGS mapTown Line on the 1982 USGS map1905Depew 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 Town Line.

The story

How Town Line came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Town Line.

Read it all →

According to Town Line oral lore, in 1861, 125 men gathered in an informal meeting at a local schoolhouse and passed (85 to 40) a resolution to secede from the United States. Because Town Line was never an incorporated municipal entity in the first place and had no well-defined boundaries, the resolution had no legal effect; neither the Confederacy nor the Union ever formally recognized the action. Alden Historical Society archivist Karen Muchow has stated that there are no written records of the action. According to Muchow, several members of the German-American community fled to Canada and twenty residents fought for the Union Army. While the reason behind the vote is unknown, author Daren Wang and others have opined that Town Line residents—some of whom had emigrated from Germany to avoid conscription—were motivated by opposition to a potential military draft being necessitated by th…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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 Town Line

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

See all →
Dorothy ThompsonAmerican journalist and radio broadcaster · b. 1893
Rob GronkowskiAmerican football player · b. 1989
Alex WebsterAmerican bassist · b. 1969
C
Chelsea NobleActress · b. 1964
Lucille CliftonAmerican poet · b. 1936
Anita AlvarezAmerican synchronized swimmer · b. 1996
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Alden1 historic placeB+MarillaIts storyC+

Questions about Town Line’s history

What year was Town Line founded?

The Town Line post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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