Founding year: the first Wayland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wayland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wayland is more historic than 52% 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 Wayland’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 Wayland’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 D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.2 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 Wayland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The region was first settled by European Americans around 1806, after the Revolutionary War. In historic times, for centuries it had been territory inhabited by the Seneca Native Americans, one of the powerful five tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy.
The town was formed in 1848 from the Towns of Cohocton and Dansville. Part of Wayland was used to form the Town of Fremont in 1854.
The Rowe House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
On August 30, 1943, the Lackawanna Limited wreck, occurred when the Lackawanna Limited, flagship passenger train of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad sideswiped a local freight that had not cleared into a siding, killing 29 people near the Gunlocke chair factory.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wayland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Wayland 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 Wayland.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Wayland, 1853–1911
Passages that mention Wayland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people1911 · page 253Read the page →
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The Lackawanna and Pittsburg Railroad was built from the oil-producing region of Allegany county, New York, to Wayland, Steuben county, on the Lackawanna line in 1884. It entered Steuben county in the town of Dansville, thence passed to the adjoining town of Wayland, turning to the south to avoid topographical obstructions its line is brought within ten miles of the city of Hornell. About this time the people of Hornellsville resolved, in view of the selfish and illiberal policy adopted by the Erie Rail-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people1911 · page 194Read the page →
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A Catholic church was organized in the town of West Union in 1845, and in the town of Bath in 1846. At Perkinsville, town of "Wayland, a parochial school was founded in 1850, under the instruction of the Sisters of Mercy. It is well attended and has a good reputation. A Catholic church was organized in the town of Addison in 1854; town of.Cohocton, 1861; town of Caton, 1883; town of Prattsburg, 1887 ; town of Pulteney, 1888 ; town of Cameron, 1891 ; and in the town of Campbell the following year.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Steuben county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1879 · page 421Read the page →
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the justices of the peace and other town officers elected or appointed in either the towns of Cohocton or Dansville, and who shall reside upon the territory hereby erected into the town of Wayland, shall hold their ofiices respectively until the expiration of the terms for which they were respectively elected or appointed, and the residue of the town officers shall be elected in the same manner as in other towns."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the settlement of Steuben County, N.Y.1853 · page 203Read the page →
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WAYLAND.* The first settlement in the town of Wayland was made by Zimmerman, in 1806, on the farm now occupied by J. Hess, at the depot. The north part of the town was settled by Captain Bowles (1808), Mr.
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
Wayland, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Between 2,067 and 4,314 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wayland’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Wayland’s history
What year was Wayland founded?
The Wayland post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wayland rank for history?
Wayland is more historic than 52% 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 Wayland?
60% of Wayland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1873
1873
