Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1792.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Whitestown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Whitestown is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #314 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 Whitestown’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 Whitestown’s 17.9 sits near the middle of its state (55% of New York towns have fewer) while its 32 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1784.
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 (±3.8 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Whitestown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Whitestown had its own post office from 1792 to 1886. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Whitestown
1792–1886
Oriskany
1816–today
Whitesboro
1817–today
New York Mills
1832–today
Walesville
1845–1902
Colemans
1888–1902
Yorkville
1889–today
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Colemans MillsNew York MillsOriskanyWalesvilleWhitesboroYorkville
Gone or out of use
New York Mills SchoolschoolOneida County AirportairportSacred Heart SchoolschoolWhitesboro Central High SchoolschoolWhitesboro Grade SchoolschoolYorkville Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Whitestown
GlensideGrandviewHoly TrinitySaint Joseph's
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Whitestown on the map, 1895 to 1955
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whitestown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895Oriskany 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 Whitestown.
The town, part of the Sadaquada Patent, was settled in 1784. The Town of Whitestown was formed in 1788, before the creation of Oneida County, with a size of 12 million acres (49,000 km2; 19,000 mi2). Whitestown was founded by Hugh White after he scouted the land in 1784 by way of traveling the Mohawk River. On June 5, 1784, White and his family came upon the mouth of the Sauquoit Creek and settled in the forests that would become Whitestown. White was also the forerunner for the creation of Oneida County in the 1790s.
Passages that mention Whitestown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Oneida County, New York1912 · page 447Read the page →
Read the text
The legislature, by an act passed March 7, 1788, among other things, created the town of Whitestown in the county of Montgomery. This town was laid out on a magnificent scale; its boundary was a straight line crossing the river a short distance below Genesee street bridge at a log house then standing there, and running thence due north to the river St. Lawrence, and also due south to a small stream near Pennsylvania, and down that stream to the Pennsylvania line, all parts of the state lying west of that line constituting the town of Whitestown. It contained more than twelve million
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-18781878 · page 500Read the page →
Read the text
having commenced in the spring of 1816, that is, twenty-seven years after the first settlement was made, which was at Paris Hill and vicinity. This first settlement made in the town was in 1789. It was then in the town of Whitestown, and was the third settlement made in that town, if not in the county, Whitestown having been first settled in 1784, Ciinton in 1787, and Paris Hill in 1789. (Utica, however, had three log huts in 1787, so that Paris Hill must have been the fourth settlement in the county.*")
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-18781878 · page 474Read the page →
Read the text
At this time all this region was in the town of Whitestown, which had been cut off from the town of German Flatts, in 1788. Whitestown was bounded east by a certain point on the Mohawk River; north by the St. Lawrence; south by Pennsylvania and a part of New York ;* and west by the lakes, the State line. First supervisor of Whitestown, Jedediah Sanger. All this vast extent of country, more extensive than some of the European kingdoms, contained at the organization of Whitestown but a few hundred inhabitants; and in 1810 the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
having commenced in the spring of ISlfi, that is, twenty-seven years after the first settlement was made, which was at Paris Hill and vicinity. This first settlement made in the town was in 1789. It was then in the town of Whitestown, and was the third settlement made in that town, if not in the county, Whitestown having been first settled in 1784, Clinton in 1787, and Paris Hill in 1789. (Utica, however, had three log huts in 1787, so that Paris Hill must have been the/o7(r(A settlement in the county."-'-)
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
Whitestown, 1784 to 1895
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1784, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Whitestown’s post office opened in 1792, and the first U.S. census counted 1,891 people here in 1790.
How does Whitestown rank for history?
Whitestown is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #314 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 Whitestown?
Two places: the Whitestown Town Hall (listed 1973) and the Middle Mill Historic District (1976).
How old are the homes in Whitestown?
26% of Whitestown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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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