Founding year: the first Wurtsboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wurtsboro’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wurtsboro is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wurtsboro’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 Wurtsboro’s 24.1 sits near the middle of its state (59% of New York towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 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 Wurtsboro’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Before Europeans, Wurtsboro was inhabited by Native Americans known as the Leni Lenape. Called Delaware by the Europeans, the Leni Lenape are known to other tribes, in their tongues, as "the old people" and are considered to be one of the oldest tribes in North America. Many anthropologists believe the Leni Lenape are the ancestors of the original people who crossed the Bering Strait to first populate North America. Within the Leni Lenape, different villages dotted the valleys between the Delaware and Hudson rivers. The group that resided in the Wurtsboro area was known as the Mamacottin.
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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Wurtsboro’s history
What year was Wurtsboro founded?
The Wurtsboro post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wurtsboro rank for history?
Wurtsboro is more historic than 79% 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.
How old are the homes in Wurtsboro?
18% of Wurtsboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1975.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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