Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #198 of 758 in New York. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 24 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1820.
Warsaw dates its founding to 1804 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warsaw is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #198 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 age lowest.
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 Warsaw’s 54.8 sits above most of its state (69% of New York towns have fewer) while its 29 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Warsaw’s post office has been open since 1811. Two 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).
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.
1886Sheet 2 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Warsaw.
The Town of Warsaw was founded in 1803 from the Town of Batavia (in Genesee County). In 1812, part of Warsaw was used to form the new town of Town of Middlebury. Again in 1814, Warsaw was reduced to form the Town of Gainesville.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Warsaw, cut from the printed page as they were published.
to LeRoy. The following is a copy of a notice posted along the route: " Notice is hereby given that Books will be open to receive subscriptions to the Capital Stock of the Warsaw and LeRoy Railroad Company, at the Inn kept by Wm. Bingham in the village of Warsaw, on Monday, the 30th day of March next, at 12 o'clock at noon, and at Butler's Mansion House, in the village of Wyoming, on the 31st day of March next, at 12
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hannah Stearns, John Brown, Wm. Brown, Miriam Brown, Levi Kice, Hannah Pice, Jeremiah Truesdell, Elijah Hammond, Phoda Peed, Joanna Beardsley. A Baptist church having been formed in Middlebury, then a part of Warsaw, this church was called the " Second Baptist Church of Warsaw." After the town of Middlebury had been formed into a separate town, this church was called the " Eirst Baptist
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 hereAugustus Frank is born here
In the archiveView from West Hill
In the archiveWarsaw, N.Y
In the archiveCutting room, button factory
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereBarber Conable is born here
Born hereJames C. Adamson is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1875View from West Hill
1875Warsaw, New York, from East Hill (Looking west)
1875Warsaw and Valley (from Gateway of Cemetery)1885Warsaw, N.Y1905Cutting room, button factory
1905Laying buttons and spraying colors, button factory
1905Carding room, button factory
1905Assorting room, button factory
1905Dyeing room, button factory
1905Drilling machine, button factory
1905One sawyer at work, button factoryEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Warsaw. 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 Warsaw.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Warsaw’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,658 and 5,423 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Warsaw’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1804, according to Wikidata. Warsaw’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1820 counted 1,658 people here.
Warsaw is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #198 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.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Warsaw Academy (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Monument Circle Historic District, with 24 contributing buildings. 29 historic buildings in all.
36% of Warsaw’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (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, 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.
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