The story
Read it all →How Venice came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Venice.
The town of Venice was formed from part of the town of Scipio in 1823.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Venice
Venice’s post office opened in 1823, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1904 on and old-book passages.
1823first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Venice began
When was Venice founded?
1823
The Venice post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Ledyard (1833), East Venice (1854) and Venice Center (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,236203 years
How historic is Venice?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Venice post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Venice’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Venice is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Venice’s overall grade.
Founding era1823, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194050.9% of homes (±10.0) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical NY town 12.3 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 73%
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 Venice’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.0 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 Venice’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Venice had its own post office from 1823 to 1903. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Poplar Ridge
Venice
Ledyard
East Venice
Venice Center
Cascade
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CascadeEast VeniceLedyardPoplar RidgeStewart CornersVenice Center
Gone or out of use
School Number 1schoolSchool Number 10schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 5schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8schoolSchool Number 9school
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Venice
East VeniceQuaker Friends Poplar RidgeRathbun And ChaseRidgewayRidgewayStewarts CornersTuppers CornersVenice Center
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Venice, 1814 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1814Post officeThe Poplar Ridge post office opens
- 1823Post officeThe Venice post office opens
- 1833Post officeThe Ledyard post office opens
- 20th century
- 1903Post officeThe Venice post office closes
- 1904
In the archiveCayuga County, Left Page (Map of town of - 1918Post officeThe Ledyard post office closes
From the old history books
What they wrote about Venice in 1910
Passages that mention Venice, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Venice and its story1910 · page 175Read the page →
Read the text
spangled with stars of gold ; a pyramid of Turkish spoils stood on the Piazza, which was gay with scarlet cloth, tapestry and pictures. Four days' rejoicings celebrated the triumph of the Cross. But to Venice the battle of Lepanto (or alle Curzolari) was a sterile victory. Dynastic jealousy in Spain and the old suspicion of Venice, which still clung to the allies, permitted the Turks to recover from the blow, and in March 1 573 Venice agreed to purchase a separate peace at
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Venice and its story1910Read the page →
Read the text
The flourishing Eastern trade began to wither, but events seemed to offer opportunity of compensation by permitting a forward policy on the mainland. Venice had opened the gates of Italy to the French king, and it was not long before Charles VIII. marched in with an army such as had never before been seen in the peninsula to achieve his designs on the kingdom of Naples. From his camp at Asti came to Venice Philippe de Comines as an envoy seeking alliance
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
Venice, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1910s–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
Date?
Date?
Date?
Date?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.
Retake this viewFarm and Residence of Volney Lester, ESQ., East Venice, Cayuga Co., N.Y; Residence and Farm of Orrin Lester, ESQ., East…
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Venice’s page.
Retake this view · +15Help out
Start Venice’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Venice’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Venice’s history
What year was Venice founded?
The Venice post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Venice rank for history?
Venice is more historic than 73% 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 Venice?
51% of Venice’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), 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.