The story
Read it all →How New Boston came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of New Boston.
New Boston was settled in the 1830s by "Yankee" migrants from Massachusetts.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · New Boston
New Boston’s post office opened in 1835, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listings are the Levi Willits House, the Gideon Ives House and the James S. Thompson House. Its Register listings are the Levi Willits House, the Gideon Ives House and the James S. Thompson House. Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 1850.
1835first post office
3on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How New Boston began
When was New Boston founded?
1835
The New Boston post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 229 in 18502020 census: 613191 years
Founding year: the first New Boston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about New Boston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start New Boston’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Boston’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about New Boston in 1882
Passages that mention New Boston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Mercer County1882Read the page →
Read the text
Sec. 3. Until the county seat of said county of Mercer shall be located, it .shall be the duty of the county commissioner's court of said county to procure a suitable house at New Boston, and the several courts shall be held at New Boston until suitable buildings are furnished at the county seat thereinafter to be located, and the said town of New Boston is hereby declared the temporary seat of said county of INIercer until the same shall be permanently located by law.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Mercer County1882Read the page →
Read the text
The village of New Boston is situated on a part of sections 31 and 32. It received an addition, known as Turner's Addition, in 1856, and in 1859 was incorporated under a special charter, lia\dng at that time about TOO inhabitants.
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
New Boston, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2017
2017On the map
New Boston on the map, 1941 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Boston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Keithsburg sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Boston.
On the National Register
3 historic places in New Boston
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Levi Willits House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival2
Italianate2
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
New Boston, census by census
Between 229 and 801 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Boston’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about New Boston’s history
What year was New Boston founded?
The New Boston post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in New Boston?
Three places: the Levi Willits House (listed 1995), the Gideon Ives House (2000) and the James S. Thompson House (2002).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.