Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1802.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Varick’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Varick is more historic than 88% 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 Varick’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 Varick’s 29.0 sits near the middle of its state (61% of New York towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1794.
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 (±5.7 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Varick’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land that is now the Town of Varick was occupied by the Cayuga and Seneca tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy before European settlement. Jesuits made missionary visits from 1656 to 1684.
The Sullivan Expedition of 1779 passed through the town to destroy villages of the Cayuga and Seneca tribes. After the American Revolution, most of the current Town of Varick was placed in the Central New York Military Tract (1788), land reserved for veterans, with an eastern part in the Cayuga Indian Reservation (1790 until 1795). White settlement followed.
During World War II, a large part of the town was appropriated by the US Government to form the Seneca Army Depot (1941–2001), which was a major employer and the only large industry.
In 1794, according to Wikidata. Varick’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1830 counted 1,890 people here.
How does Varick rank for history?
Varick is more historic than 88% 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 Varick?
One place: the Ritter, Simon, Cobblestone Farmhouse (listed 2008).
How old are the homes in Varick?
29% of Varick’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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