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B+History
History · Tusten

Tusten’s post office opened in 1884, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1860.

1884first post office
5on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tusten’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tusten began

When was Tusten founded?

1884

The Tusten post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Beaver Brook (1839), Big Eddy (1849) and Lava (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 871 in 18602020 census: 1,405142 years

How historic is Tusten?

B+

More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Tusten post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Tusten’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tusten is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tusten’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194023.5% of homes (±5.5) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register5 listings, 32.5 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 67%
NewerOlder

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 Tusten’s 32.5 sits near the middle of its state (63% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 →

What stands out about Tusten’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Tusten, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19204 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1994. Watch Tusten change.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Tusten had its own post office from 1884 to 1953. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Beaver Brook
1839–1917
Narrowsburg
1840–today
Big Eddy
1849–1850
Tusten
1884–1953
Lava
1886–1934
Neweiden
1904–1917
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hunts CornerLavaNarrowsburgNewieden
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tusten
Beaver BrookGlen CoveLavaSaint Francis XavierTusten

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Tusten on the map, 1920 to 1994

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

Tusten on the 1920 USGS mapTusten on the 1944 USGS mapTusten on the 1983 USGS mapTusten on the 1994 USGS map1920Damascus 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 Tusten.

On the National Register

5 historic places in Tusten

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Arlington Hotel
Arlington HotelTen Mile River Baptist ChurchNarrowsburg Methodist ChurchTusten Stone Arch BridgeKirk House
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Mid-19th Century1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Stone Arch Bridge1
Arlington HotelBuilding
Ten Mile River Baptist ChurchMid-19th Century
Narrowsburg Methodist ChurchGreek Revival
Tusten Stone Arch BridgeStone Arch Bridge
All 5 listings
Kirk HouseBuilding · listed 1984

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Tusten came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tusten.

Read it all →

The town was previously part of the Towns of Mamakating and Lumberland in 1853. Benjamin Homans was the first settler, setting himself up by Narrowsburg. The Ten Mile River Baptist Church and Tusten Stone Arch Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tusten is also home to the historic Fort Delaware. Markers celebrating local history can be found on walker friendly paths around town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Tusten in 1873

Passages that mention Tusten, cut from the printed page as they were published.

for the making of two new towns. The petition of the latter had the most weight with the Board of Supervisors, who on the 17th of December, 1853, enacted that certain lots should be erected into the town of Tusten, and certain other lots into the town of Highland,* "and that aU the remaining part o…
History of Sullivan County1873 · page 376Read the page →
Read the text

for the making of two new towns. The petition of the latter had the most weight with the Board of Supervisors, who on the 17th of December, 1853, enacted that certain lots should be erected into the town of Tusten, and certain other lots into the town of Highland,* "and that aU the remaining part of Lumberland shaU be and remain a separate town by the name of Limiberlaoid."

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

Tusten, 1839 to 1943

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Beaver Brook post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe Narrowsburg post office opens
  4. 1849Post officeThe Big Eddy post office opens
  5. 1850Post officeThe Big Eddy post office closes
  6. 1875In the archiveCounty atlas of Sullivan, New York
  7. 20th century
  8. 1917Post officeThe Beaver Brook post office closes
  9. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1943In the archiveTusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by th…
By decade

Tusten, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
County atlas of Sullivan, New York1875County atlas of Sullivan, New YorkMap
1940s7 items
Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Boy …1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Mass…1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Boy …1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Fath…1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. The …1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Mr. …1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Jame…1943Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Broo…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Ten Mile River2021Ten Mile River2021-09-09 10 48 31 View east along New York State Route 52 and Sullivan County Route 111 just east of New York State R…20212021-09-09 10 48 31 View east along New York State Ro…New York State Route 97 PICT07512009New York State Route 97 PICT0751
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Tusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Boy …
Retake this viewTusten, New York. Interracial activities at Camp Brooklyn, where children are aided by the Methodist Camp Service. Boy …, 1943

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Tusten’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Tusten, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600190019502000Peak: 1,515

Between 871 and 1,515 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tusten’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Tusten

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

See all →
Henry Augustus RowlandAmerican physicist · b. 1848
Lyman LemnitzerAmerican general · b. 1899
Jennie Augusta BrownscombeAmerican painter · b. 1850
Mary Dimmick HarrisonSecond wife of the 23rd United States president… · b. 1858
F
Florence GoodenoughAmerican psychologist · b. 1886
D
Daniel N. RobinsonAmerican philosopher · b. 1937
Help out

Finish Tusten’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTusten, New York. Interracial activitie…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Narrowsburg3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCochecton12 historic placesAHighland4 historic placesB+

Questions about Tusten’s history

What year was Tusten founded?

The Tusten post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Tusten rank for history?

Tusten is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. 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.

What is on the National Register in Tusten?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Arlington Hotel (listed 1983, the first), and 1 structure.

How old are the homes in Tusten?

24% of Tusten’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1969.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.