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BHistory
History · Verona

Verona dates to 1792, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #581 of 758 in New York. What drives it

Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1810.

1792founded
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Verona began

When was Verona founded?

1792

Verona dates its founding to 1792 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 1,014 in 18102020 census: 5,974234 years

How historic is Verona?

B

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1813.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Verona’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Verona is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #581 of 758 in New York. 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 Verona’s overall grade.
Founding era1792, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194025.9% of homes (±6.4) · 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 63%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 23%

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 Verona’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 (±6.4 points). Two sources give 1792.

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 Verona’s past

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

Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Verona, and 23 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Verona are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.On the map since 18955 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1955. Watch Verona change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Verona’s post office has been open since 1813. Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Verona
1813–today
Sconondoa
1814–1865
New London
1827–1907
Durhamville
1834–today
Higginsville
1844–1910
State Bridge
1849–1906
Verona Mills
1851–1906
Fish Creek
1870–1947
Dunbarton
1883–1896
Verona Station
1889–1942
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Agnes CornersBlackmans CornersBrewers CornerCagwin CornersChurchvilleDams CornerDumbartonDurhamvilleEast VeronaFish Creek StationGoodrich CornersHigginsvilleNew LondonParadise HillSconondoaStacy BasinStarks LandingState BridgeVerona BeachVerona MillsVerona Mobile Home ParkVerona StationWillow Place
Gone or out of use
Durhamville Union SchoolschoolKamp Airportairport
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Verona
DoxtaterGroveHappy ValleyJoslynLewisSaint FrancisWest

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Verona’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Verona, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,00018501900195020005,967 in 1860Low: 3,136

Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1920, then more than doubled.

21 censuses, 1810–2010.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Verona’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Verona came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Verona.

Read it all →

Part of the extensive territory of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois League, the municipality was first settled by European Americans in 1792, after the American Revolutionary War.

The Town of Verona was established from the Town of Westmoreland, in 1802.

In 1993, the Oneida Nation purchased land in the town. On this site it built and opened a casino and bingo hall. By 1997, this facility had been developed as a full-scale resort called Turning Stone Resort Casino.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Verona in 1878

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

Oneida Lake, at a cost of $64,837.68 ; but it was allowed to fall into decay, and is not now in use excepting about one mile of it, running to the stone quarries in the town of Verona.. Its total length including the creek was six miles, and the descent 56 feet. By an act passed May 16, 1867, a new…
History of Oneida County, New York1878 · page 182Read the page →
Read the text

Oneida Lake, at a cost of $64,837.68 ; but it was allowed to fall into decay, and is not now in use excepting about one mile of it, running to the stone quarries in the town of Verona.. Its total length including the creek was six miles, and the descent 56 feet. By an act passed May 16, 1867, a new canal was ordered built from Durhamviile to Oneida Lake, five and three-tenths miles in length. This

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first church organization in town was Congregational in denomination, and was formed Aug. 5, 1803, in a barn, which is yet standing in Verona village. Its founders were Revs. Peter Fish and Timothy Cooley, missionaries, one a Congregationalist and the other a Presbyterian. The members numbered …
History of Oneida County, New York1878 · page 584Read the page →
Read the text

The first church organization in town was Congregational in denomination, and was formed Aug. 5, 1803, in a barn, which is yet standing in Verona village. Its founders were Revs. Peter Fish and Timothy Cooley, missionaries, one a Congregationalist and the other a Presbyterian. The members numbered 23.

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

Verona, 1792 to 1980

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1792
    FoundingVerona is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1805Born hereOrsamus B. Matteson is born here
  5. 1813Post officeThe Verona post office opens
  6. 1814Post officeThe Sconondoa post office opens
  7. 1816Born hereRussell Sage is born here
  8. 1827Post officeThe New London post office opens
  9. 1840Born hereJames A. Jewell is born here
  10. 1850Born hereHenry Cullen Adams is born here
  11. 1865Post officeThe Sconondoa post office closes
  12. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 20th century
  14. 1907Post officeThe New London post office closes
  15. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 6,681
By decade

Verona, decade by decade

Today5 recent
20180523 - 08 - Verona, NY - "The Road Ahead"201820180523 - 08 - Verona, NY - "The Road Ahead"Int90eRoad-Exit33-NY365sign2015Int90eRoad-Exit33-NY365signVerona Test Annex, New York2013Verona Test Annex, New YorkUS Navy 061104-N-0000P-003 Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman, Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani speaks with attendees of …2006US Navy 061104-N-0000P-003 Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice…NY 31 east at NY 462004NY 31 east at NY 46
On the map

Verona on the map, 1895 to 1955

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

Verona on the 1895 USGS mapVerona on the 1902 USGS mapVerona on the 1939 USGS mapVerona on the 1948 USGS mapVerona on the 1955 USGS map1895Oneida 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 Verona.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Verona

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

See all →
Russell SageAmerican financier and congressman for New York · b. 1816
Henry Cullen AdamsU.S. Congressman · b. 1850
Orsamus B. MattesonAmerican politician · b. 1805
J
James A. JewellAppraiser · b. 1840
Densmore MaxonAmerican politician · b. 1820
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Rome13 historic placesA+Vienna1 historic placeB+Oneida9 historic placesA+DurhamvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLenox17 historic placesA+Vernon2 historic placesA−WestmorelandIts storyB−

Questions about Verona’s history

What year was Verona founded?

In 1792, according to Wikidata. Verona’s post office opened in 1813, and the census of 1810 counted 1,014 people here.

How does Verona rank for history?

Verona is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #581 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.

How old are the homes in Verona?

26% of Verona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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), 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.