The Walton post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Colchester (1815), Pepacton (1826) and Loomis (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,432 in 18202020 census: 5,270225 years
How historic is Walton?
A
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Walton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Walton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Walton is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #237 of 758 in New York. 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 Walton’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 Walton’s 17.2 sits near the middle of its state (54% of New York towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
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 (±7.7 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 Walton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Walton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Walton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Walton is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 5,270 at the 2020 census. The town is in the west-central part of the county and contains the village of Walton. The town claims to be the "Scarecrow Capital of the World." Walton was formed in 1797 from the town of Franklin. The original settlement, near the site of the village of Walton, occurred in 1785.
Its first post office opened in 1801. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,576 to 5,270 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Walton in 1898
Passages that mention Walton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
THE town of Colchester was formed AjHil 1(», IT'.l'i, from tintown of Middletown, and iucluded the present town of Hancock and a portion of the town of Walton. It was then in the county of Ulster. In 1799 a part was annexed to the town of Walton. Hancock was taken oif in 18()(), and a part of Walton was annexed to Colchester in 1827. Since which last the boundaries of the town have remained unaltered. At the formation of the county of Delaware in 1797, Colchester was one of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The year 1784 mai-ks the period of the first permanent settlement within the hounds of the jiri'seiit town of Walton. A ylance at that date recalls the fact that tlie w'ar of independence had Ijeeu brouf,'ht to a successful issue, and the mother country had been compelled to relimiuish her claim upon the thirteen colonies, and that henceforth they were to carve out for themselves tlic form of a {il'overnmeut and lay the foundations of a permanent republic.
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
Walton, 1801 to 1953
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Walton post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Walton rank for history?
Walton is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #237 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.
What is on the National Register in Walton?
6 listings: 5 buildings and 1 historic district, the Gardiner Place Historic District, with 3 contributing buildings. 9 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Walton?
46% of Walton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
