Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 108 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1830.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Turin is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs put West Turin near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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 West Turin’s 664 sits above most of its state (94% of New York towns have fewer) while its 115 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
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 West Turin’s history is told.
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 West Turin.
The town was first settled circa 1796, near Constableville. West Turin was formed from part of Turin in 1830 and was subsequently reduced in size by the formation of newer towns: Montague (1850) and Osceola (1844). The town of West Turin now includes the former town of Highmarket, which was disbanded in 1973. Highmarket had been set apart from West Turin in 1852.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention West Turin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Settlement was begun at No. 4, at the village of Constableville in 1796, as will be more fully mentioned in our history of West Turin. As Mr. Shaler's mills, house and agency were located there, we have only to notice, in this connection the settlement of that portion now embraced in this town. The early pur-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
West Turin now includes parts of townships 2 and 4, or Flora and Pomona of Constable's Four Towns. Of these the former belongs to the Pierrepont estate, and its settlement is modern as compared with the latter, upon which Nathaniel Shaler commenced settlement in 1796. In the summer of 1795, Shaler
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Turin. 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 West Turin.
Peaked at 3,793 in 1850; 1,524 people lived here in 2010.
19 censuses, 1830–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Turin’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in West Turin itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
West Turin is among the most historic 1% 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.
6 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Constable Hall (listed 1973, the first), 2 historic districts, the Gould Mansion Complex and the Constableville Village Historic District, with 108 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 115 historic buildings in all.
40% of West Turin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, 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.
2018