Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Varna

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Varna

Varna’s post office opened in 1830

Most of Varna was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and old-book passages.

1830first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Varna’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Varna began

When was Varna founded?

1830

The Varna post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 767196 years
Founding year: the first Varna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Varna’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19005 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1978. Watch Varna change.Deep rootsA post office since 1830: 196 years of Varna.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Varna’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Varna’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEtna (Village); Etna Business Directory…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Varna on the map, 1900 to 1978

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

Varna on the 1900 USGS mapVarna on the 1949 USGS mapVarna on the 1951 USGS mapVarna on the 1969 USGS mapVarna on the 1978 USGS map1900Dryden 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 Varna.

Timeline

Varna, 1866 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866In the archiveEtna (Village); Etna Business Directory.; Varna (Village); Varna Business Directory.; Dry…
  3. 1868Born hereEdith Anna Ellis is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1930Born hereRoyall T. Moore is born here
The story so far

Varna, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Varna yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Varna is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in Tompkins County, New York, United States. It is within the Town of Dryden. As of the 2020 census, Varna had a population of 767. Varna is located near the west town line on New York State Route 366 (Dryden Road). Fall Creek flows past the town to Cayuga Lake.

Its first post office opened in 1830.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Varna in 1894

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

88 LANDMARKS f)F TOMPKINS COUNTY, married Miss Mary L. Sherwood, daujjhter of William Sherwood, of Varna. He left the hoiiiestead farm in 1859 and moved to Varna, living there six years, and in 1807 bought the Red Mills of Freeville, which he remodeled and soon established a well deserved reputatio…
Landmarks of Tompkins county, New York1894 · page 88Read the page →
Read the text

88 LANDMARKS f)F TOMPKINS COUNTY, married Miss Mary L. Sherwood, daujjhter of William Sherwood, of Varna. He left the hoiiiestead farm in 1859 and moved to Varna, living there six years, and in 1807 bought the Red Mills of Freeville, which he remodeled and soon established a well deserved reputation throughout the town and county, and remained there fifteen years. In 1881 he sold the mill and moved into the village of Freeville, where he has talcen a prominent part in advancing its best interests, being president of the village.

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.

By decade

Varna, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Etna (Village); Etna Business Directory.; Varna (Village); Varna Business Directory.; Dryden (Township); Dryden Townshi…1866Etna (Village); Etna Business Directory.; Varna (Vill…
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.

Etna (Village); Etna Business Directory.; Varna (Village); Varna Business Directory.; Dryden (Township); Dryden Townshi…
Retake this viewEtna (Village); Etna Business Directory.; Varna (Village); Varna Business Directory.; Dryden (Township); Dryden Townshi…, 1866

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Varna

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Edith Anna EllisWomen's rights activist, writer, politician, an… · b. 1868
R
Royall T. MooreU.S. mycologist · b. 1930

Questions about Varna’s history

What year was Varna founded?

The Varna post office opened in 1830, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.