Founding year: the first Union Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Union Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union Springs is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Union Springs’ overall grade.
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 Union Springs’ 55.8 sits above most of its state (70% of New York towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±15.3 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 Union Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1899Auburn 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 Union Springs.
Every building
Union Springs, building by building, 1887–1911
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.
The village is south of the current village of Cayuga and north of the former Cayuga Nation village of Gwau-gwah (Cayuga Castle), which became a Jesuit mission. The native village was a target of the Sullivan Expedition of 1779. After the war, a reservation was established for the Cayuga who returned, but they gave up their land rights before 1800. The village was incorporated in 1848.
Mineral springs near the village made the village an important health spa.
In 2023 the mayor of Union Springs was Bud Shattuck. His term expired in March 2023. Robert Thurston Jr. ran unopposed for a two-year term, and was elected in March that year.
Union Springs is the location of Union Springs Academy - a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school.
Passages that mention Union Springs, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cayuga County, New York1908 · page 386Read the page →
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Wood, George P. Born in the town of Springport, Cayuga County, N. Y. , May 31, 1841 ; educated in the public schools of that town and in the Friends' Academy in the village of Union Springs. In 1865 he commenced reading law in the office of his brother — Etsel Wood, Esq., — in Union Springs and finished his studies in the law department of the University at Albany, N. Y. , from which he was graduated in 1869 and was admitted to practice in the State courts at Albany in May of that year, and to practice in the United
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cayuga County, New York1908 · page 440Read the page →
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440 History of Cayuga County settled about the same time, 1800. The first school in town was kept near Union Springs by Anos Comely; Thomas Collins was the first innkeeper, and Laban Hoskins and Walter Low were the first storekeepers, in or about 1810.
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History of Cayuga County, New York1879 · page 391Read the page →
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Governor, in an interesting letter of the date of September 3d, 1789, that they thought of ultimate retreat to the one beautiful island which fronts the village of Union Springs. It would have been a stirring chapter in history to have seen what manner of fortress for defense the men of the compass would have created there to make stand until the soldier governor, who was at
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cayuga County, New York1879 · page 358Read the page →
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The numerous springs in the town possess features of interest to the geologist. The most important of these are the two in the village of Union Springs, which are about ten rods apart, and discharge their waters into ponds covering * From an an.ilysis of J. A. Barral, agricultural chemist of Paris,
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
Union Springs, 1845 to 1924
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Union Springs post office opened in 1810, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Union Springs rank for history?
Union Springs is more historic than 94% 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.
How old are the homes in Union Springs?
49% of Union Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±15.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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?
Date?
2013