Van Buren’s post office opened in 1829, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #372 of 758 in New York. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the New York State Barge Canal, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 155 buildings. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1830.
The Van Buren post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Ionia (1820), Vanburen (1829) and Styles Station (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,890 in 18302020 census: 14,367197 years
How historic is Van Buren?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Van Buren post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Van Buren’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Van Buren is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #372 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Van Buren’s 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 Van Buren’s 110 sits above most of its state (77% of New York towns have fewer) while its 156 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Van Buren’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
B-Ville AirparkairportBaldwinsville SanitariumhospitalSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 11schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8schoolSchool Number 9schoolSouth Side Graded Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Van Buren
IoniaKingdom RoadRiversideRouseSaint MarysSearsWarnersWarners Village
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Van Buren’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Van Buren’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The town was part of the Central New York Military Tract of 1789 used to pay soldiers for service in the American Revolution. Most of the soldiers chose to sell their allotments for cash so that the town was briefly in the hands of land speculators until the actual residents purchased lots. Settlement began around 1791.
The Town of Van Buren was formed in 1829 from the Town of Camillus.
Passages that mention Van Buren, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Van Buren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c, a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ... history of the Northwest, history1878 · page 391Read the page →
Read the text
extended to a point within the ceded territory. A strip of land was still left west of the county about a mile and a half in width. This strip lay in what afterward became, subsequent to the Indian treaty of 1842, the county of Davis, The strip was attached to Van Buren County for all judicial and official purposes, but at the period of which we write was without distinctive title. The year 1840, was a comparatively late one in the settlement of Van Buren, but the attached wild lands had not received much benefit from the civilizing influences of the influx of pioneers in the eastern and central part of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Van Buren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c, a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ... history of the Northwest, history1878 · page 539Read the page →
Read the text
PARK, STEPHEN, far., Sec. 26; P. 0. Doud's Station ; born in Licking- Co., Ohio, Aug. 12, 1823; in 1844, he moved to Van Buren Co. ; he went to Oaliforuia in 1849, and remained there twelve years ; went to Nevada and remained seven years, then returned to his home in Van Buren Co. While on the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Portrait and biographical album of Jefferson and Van Buren counties, Iowa. Containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent1890 · page 617Read the page →
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made a permanentsettlement near lowaville, he followed trading with the red men, having tradingposts in Farmington, Bonaiiarte, Kilbourn and Doud's Station, in Van Buren County, besides many otiiers elsewhere. A trading-post consisted of a log house, which the Indians built for him or he rented, at a place agreed upon to meet and trade. At these places the nation would come en
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The life of Martin Van Buren, heir-apparent to the "government," and the appointed successor of General Andrew Jackson1836 · page 135Read the page →
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doubt that he received liis information from Van Buren ? And who does not see at once, that he went about getting the facts from some other quarter than from Van Buren, for the purpose of being used, as agreed upon by Van Buren, Cambreling, and Crawford, while together in Georgia ? Failing in getting them from Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Forsyth, the well-known confidant and bosom friend
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
Van Buren, 1820 to 2016
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Van Buren post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Van Buren rank for history?
Van Buren is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #372 of 758 in New York. 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 Van Buren?
Two places: the New York State Barge Canal and the Mrs.. I.L. Crego House (2007).
How old are the homes in Van Buren?
13% of Van Buren’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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