3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1830.
The Wilmington post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Haselton (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 695 in 18302020 census: 1,139203 years
How historic is Wilmington?
A
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Wilmington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wilmington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wilmington is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. 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 Wilmington’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 Wilmington’s 79.9 sits above most of its state (73% of New York towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 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 Wilmington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was formed in 1821 from the town of Jay. At that time, the town was called "Dansville". In 1822, the name was changed, as suggested by a settler from Vermont, to "Wilmington" due to confusion with another "Dansville" in New York. In 1848, part of the town was partitioned off to form the town of St. Armand.
In the beginning of the 20th century, the tourist industry began to develop in the town. "Santa's Workshop", one of the first American theme parks for children, is located part way up the Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway and was awarded its own Post Office—North Pole, New York. Whiteface Mountain (4,865 feet) Ski Center was the site of alpine events for the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Passages that mention Wilmington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of the original settlements on the Delaware1846Read the page →
Read the text
Wilmington lies between two rivers, the one adapted to navigation and commerce, the other to mills and manufacturing establishments. In these respects Nature has made our city to resemble the metropolis of Pennsylvania, while Art has been actively engaged in carrying out the resemblance. The streets of Wilmington are all laid out at right angles with each other, and those running from river to river are crossed by others that are named numerically. Through the central part of the city
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of the original settlements on the Delaware1846 · page 201Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Wilmington had just been laid out, and between thirty and forty buildings erected. The church lands occupied that part of the city which is now nearly central. The prospect of rapid improvement in the value of their property, induced the congregation to come into the market with lots to lease at moderate rents ; and had it not been either for the superior wisdom, or great want of foresight, in those who had the management of their real estate, the church at this day would have been
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
Wilmington, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 Wilmington post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wilmington rank for history?
Wilmington is more historic than 90% 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 Wilmington?
Three places: the Camp Intermission (listed 1992), the Wilmington Bridge (1999) and the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway Complex (2008).
How old are the homes in Wilmington?
27% of Wilmington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1898
1898
1901
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2008
2007
2007
2006
2006
2006
2006