Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Youngstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Youngstown is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Youngstown’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 Youngstown’s 5.7 sits near the middle of its state (37% of New York towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1796.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Youngstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The village's early growth was under the protection of Fort Niagara.
The village was destroyed by the British in 1813 during the War of 1812.
The Village of Youngstown was incorporated in 1854, named after John Young.
Youngstown is an historic village located at the northwestern corner of the state where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario.
In an area known to the Indians for hundreds of years, the French explorer La Salle left his mark by building a small fort in 1670, less than a mile north of where the village now stands. The French gained control of the Great Lakes area and by 1727 built the "Castle" which became the centerpiece of Old Fort Niagara.
Passages that mention Youngstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio1921 · page 260Read the page →
Read the text
The county court of Trumbull County which assembled at Warren on August 25, 1800, divided all Trumbull County east of the Cuyahoga River into eight civil townships. The civil township of Youngstown embraced the townships now known as Poland, Boardman, Canfield, Ellsworth, Austintown, Youngstown, Coitsville and Jackson, in Mahoning County, and Hubbard and Liberty in Trumbull County. Both the civil township of Youngstown and the surveyed township of Youngstown were well represented in the first county court of quarter
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio1921 · page 261Read the page →
Read the text
This township form of government sufficed in Youngstown for many years. From time to time the individual townships that made up the original civil township of Youngstown were detached and organized governments of their own until the civil township of Youngstown became identical with the original township purchased by John Young.
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
Youngstown, decade by decade
4 decades in the archive, from the 1840s to the 1910s. 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.
In 1796, according to Wikidata. Youngstown’s post office opened in 1815.
How does Youngstown rank for history?
Youngstown is more historic than 70% 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 Youngstown?
18% of Youngstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people 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.
1917