Windsor’s post office opened in 1818, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #322 of 758 in New York. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 70 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1820.
The Windsor post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name. Ten smaller post offices, West Windsor (1832), South Windsor (1839) and Cascade Valley (1862), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 3,354 in 18202020 census: 5,804208 years
How historic is Windsor?
A
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Windsor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Windsor’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Windsor is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #322 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Windsor’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 Windsor’s 123 sits above most of its state (78% of New York towns have fewer) while its 70 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±5.0 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 Windsor’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
Windsor’s post office has been open since 1818. 12 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Windsor
1818–today
West Windsor
1832–1910
South Windsor
1839–1866
Cascade Valley
1862–1914
East Windsor
1875–1954
Lester
1883–1904
Flowers
1886–1895
Stateline
1891–1908
Dunbar
1892–1894
Edson
1892–1905
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlatchleyCascade ValleyDamascusDunbarEast WindsorEdsonFlowersForest View Mobile Home ParkLesterMount CarmelOccanumOccanum Falls Mobile Home ParkSouth WindsorWest Windsor
Gone or out of use
Bell Road QuarrymineHawkins Pond QuarrymineSchool Number 3school
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Windsor
Cascade ValleyEast WindsorEdwardsKnoxLyons FarmMountain ViewRiley FarmRiversideSouth WindsorWakeWindsor Village
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
People over time
Windsor, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1820 and 1920, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Windsor’s Wikipedia page.
On the National Register
2 listings protect 70 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
This area along the Susquehanna had long been settled by varying cultures of indigenous peoples, including those of the historic Iroquois Confederacy, who used the river for transportation, water and fishing. Around 1712 remnants of the Tuscarora tribe settled in the northern part of the town. Also an Iroquoian-speaking people, they had migrated from North Carolina, which they left because of warfare with English colonists and other tribes. In 1722, the Tuscarora were accepted by the Iroquois as the Sixth Nation of their political confederacy.
Passages that mention Windsor, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of ancient Windsor, Connecticut1859 · page 397Read the page →
Read the text
journment, the Moderator of the former meeting not being present, Capt. Nath^ Loomis was chosen Moderator," " at said meeting, Voted, that each able bodied effective man, that is an inhabitant of the town of Windsor, that shall enlist into either of the Eight Battalions of Continental Troops belonging to the State of Connecticut, or that has enlisted since the 22d day of April last, shall receive of the Selectmen of the town of Windsor an order upon the Treasurer for the town of Windsor for the sum of Thirty
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of ancient Windsor, Connecticut1859 · page 396Read the page →
Read the text
The following appears on the town books: "At a town meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Windsor, lawfully named and held in Windsor, the 22d of April, 1117, for the purpose of doing the following business, viz: 1st, To see what method the town will take to encourage the proportion of soldiers assigned to the town of Windsor to enlist into the Continental Army, to supply the quota assigned to this town.
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
Windsor, 1815 to 1990
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Windsor. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Nineveh 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 Windsor.
Every building
Windsor, building by building, 1905–1912
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.
The Windsor post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Windsor rank for history?
Windsor is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #322 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 Windsor?
Two places: the Windsor Village Historic District (listed 1980) and the Jedediah Hotchkiss House (1982).
How old are the homes in Windsor?
17% of Windsor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 Library of Congress (2), 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, 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.
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