Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1830.
The Villenova post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Villanova (1826), Hamlet (1850) and Wango (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Villenova is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Villenova’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Villenova had its own post office from 1890 to 1899. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Villenova’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Villenova. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Villenova.
From Wikipedia’s history of Villenova.
The area that would become Villenova was first settled circa 1809. The town of Villenova was formed from part of the town of Hanover in 1823.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Villenova, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Hanover — The town of Hanover, the extreme northeastern town of the county, was formed from Pomfret, June I, 1812, lost the area comprised in the town of Villenova in 1823 and a part of the town of Sheridan in 1827. It comprises township 6 of the tenth range, and in addition to the territory usually contained in a township six miles square, ex-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
bought this same year (1807) lot 58, Cattaraugus Village ; he seems never to have located there, but went to that part which became Villenova. He held a number of town offices in Hanover, was the first supervisor of Villenova, and moved to Indiana in 1843. 1° J8o8 Rufus Washburn bought lot 57, near Forestville, and Benjamin Kenyon bought lot 63, Cat-
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereAlbert Cole Hopkins is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Peaked at 1,655 in 1840; 1,053 people lived here in 2020.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Villenova’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Villenova post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Villenova is more historic than 51% 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.
48% of Villenova’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1951.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
