Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #413 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Blood, Jackson, Cobblestone House. Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 1830.
Yates dates its founding to 1822 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yates is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #413 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Yates’ 4.1 sits below most of its state (32% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Yates had its own post office from 1824 to 1911. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Yates’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Yates. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Yates.
From Wikipedia’s history of Yates.
The first settler, George Houseman, arrived circa 1809. Yates was incorporated in 1822 from part of the Town of Ridgeway and was briefly called "Northton."
In 1903, the Village of Lyndonville set itself apart from Yates by incorporating as a village.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Yates, cut from the printed page as they were published.
April 17, 1822, under the name of Northton, but in the next year the name was changed to Yates, for Governor Yates. George Houseman, in 1809, and John Eaton, in 1810, were probably the first settlers. The first tavern keeper was Samuel Tappan, at Yates Center, in 1825. The first store was kept by Moore & Hughes, in 1824. The first school was taught by Josiah Peny in 1819. The school house was about a mile north of the Center.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When Steuben County was organized all of the present town of Barrington was a part of the town of Frederickton, and later became a part of Wayne. In 1822 the town of Barrington was created, and in 1826 it was added with Starkey to Yates County. The first town meeting was held February 24, 1823 at the house of Daniel Rapalee; Richard Eddy was elected supervisor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Yates County was . organized February 5, 1823, and was named in honor of Joseph C. Yates, then Governor of the State of New York. The towns of Barrington and Starkey were added to the couuty in 1820, and the town of Torrey was organized in 1851. Twenty-three years after the organization of our county, war was declared by the United States against Mexico. The principal military operations in that war were the invasion of Northern Mexico by the American
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
falling water, of the outlet of Crooked Lake, attracted them to the west shore of Seneca Lake. Passing up the outlet they came to the Falls, and exploring the neighborhood, fixed upon it as their location. They began their settlement in Yates County, about one mile south of the present village of Dresden. It was August when they arrived. They prepared ground and sowed a field of wheat in common, and the next season, 1789, several small fields of wheat were sown.*
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereEdmund L. Pitts is born here
Born hereFranklin J. Drake is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 1,538 and 2,559 people in every census since 1830.
19 censuses, 1830–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Yates’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1822, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Yates’ post office opened in 1824, and the census of 1830 counted 1,538 people here.
Yates is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #413 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.
One place: the Blood, Jackson, Cobblestone House (listed 2005).
34% of Yates’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1960.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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