Westport’s post office opened in 1816, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
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 434 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1889 on and old-book passages.
The Westport post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wadhams Mills (1823), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,320210 years
How historic is Westport?
A+
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Westport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Westport’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Westport is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Westport’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 Westport’s 2,916 sits above most of its state (99% of New York towns have fewer) while its 452 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.6 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 Westport’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1642, Jesuit missionary Isaac Jogues was tortured by Iroquois at Coles Bay. He survived and was eventually saved by merchants from New Amsterdam.
The town was founded by William Gilliland in 1764 who surveyed an area in the southern part of the town and was granted 2,300 acres (9.3 km2); he also established the neighboring towns of Elizabethtown, named for his wife, and Willsboro. Gilliland originally called his patent "Bessboro" after his little daughter. The original settlement, which may have supplied wood to Benedict Arnold's troops, was completely destroyed during the American Revolutionary War in connection with British General John Burgoyne's march from Canada to Saratoga. The first permanent settlement was in 1785.
has fortunately been preserved. He begins : "Dear sir : — I now, agreeable to promise, commence a sketch of the early settlement of this country, but more particularly of the town of Westport. In the spring of 1790 I moved to the settlement of Brookfield, which commenced in the spring of 1789, which place was then in the town of Willsborough, but now in the town of Essex. At that time all bhe country west of me for 100 miles
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Black river to "the Kingdom," (peopled now only by ghosts of the old Days of Iron,) or you may turn and go south between the mountains until you come to the spring which supplies the village of Westport with water. If you choose this road, the first little bridge you cross is cttllecl, in local talk, "tea-kettle bridge." The name is the most valuable part of the legend, as the neighbors can only tell you that once, when they mended the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Josiali Brown purchased land in what was then the town of Willsborough, afterwards in the town of Lewis. Daniel Wright purchased land in what was the town of Elizabeth town from 1798 to 1815 and is now in the town of Westport. Daniel Wright was a sturdy pioneer, a typical example of the early settlers of Essex County. He came to the northern part of what is now the town of Westport and settled when he was in the prime of a vigorous manhood, having an honorable mili-
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
Westport, 1816 to 1928
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Westport post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Westport rank for history?
Westport 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.
What is on the National Register in Westport?
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the First Congregational and Presbyterian Society Church of Westport (listed 1988, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Camp Dudley Road Historic District and the Westport Historic District, with 434 contributing buildings. 452 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Westport?
52% of Westport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.6 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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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