Boston was originally called New Boston, and under the latter name was laid out and platted in 1832. The first post office in Boston was established in 1837.
On June 26, 1849, a cholera outbreak began, with the first death occurring the following day. Of the 120 residents at the time, 53 residents died over the following 5 weeks.
The Boston Township Council is composed of five members with a council president.
Peaked at 257 in 1950; 150 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Boston’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Boston, 1879–1915
Passages that mention Boston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Newton genealogy, genealogical, biographical, historical, being a record of the descendants of Richard Newton of Sudbury and Marlborough, Massachusetts 1638, with genealogies of families descended from the immigrants, Rev. Roger Newton of Milford, Connect1915 · page 799Read the page →
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[Bondsmen] Samuel Ilenshaw William Tucker 6942. THOMAS NEWTON, "the Attorney" at Boston, came there in 1688 from New Hampshire. He was Secretary of that province until 1690; was Controller of the Customs at Boston; Judge of the Admiralty, and Attorney- General for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He occupied this last position during and after the witchcraft prosecutions. "His opinion must have led to the cure of the infernal delusion, for in January, 1693, he wrote to Sir William Phipps, the Governor, that of the fifty-two charged at Salem, at that court, the
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A history of the Starr family of New England, from the ancestor, Dr. Comfort Starr of Ashford, County of Kent, England, who emigrated to Boston, Mass., in 16351879Read the page →
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A Jasper, b. Feb. 17, 1729, in Boston; was in Bridgewater between 1789 and 1793. Tradition calls him a sailor; d. unm'd; nothing authentic known.
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Newton genealogy, genealogical, biographical, historical, being a record of the descendants of Richard Newton of Sudbury and Marlborough, Massachusetts 1638, with genealogies of families descended from the immigrants, Rev. Roger Newton of Milford, Connect1915 · page 370Read the page →
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Mellish, Emil Zaeder and Margaret Butler; filed March 16. 1908, by Nathan B. Hay of Boston, as counsel for Sarah L. Pay of Boston, who says in a petition filed with the will, that she is treasurer of the Woman's Board of Missions.
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A genealogical history of the Harwood families1911 · page 36Read the page →
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Bunker Hill " they lought with great bravery." After the battle the New Hampshire troops under Cols. Stark and Reed remained stationed during the summer and autumn of 1775, at Winter Hill near Boston. The next year, 1776, James Harwood with other Dunstable men served in Capt. Daniel Wilkins' company, Col. Timothy Bedell's regiment, which was formed to defend the frontier, and was stationed for a time in a fort called "The Cedars," at
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Boston, 1837 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (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.
![[Bondsmen] Samuel Ilenshaw William Tucker 6942. THOMAS NEWTON, "the Attorney" at Boston, came there in 1688 from New Hampshire. He was Secretary of that province until 1690; was Controller of the Customs at Boston; Judge of the Admiralty, and Attorney- General for the Province of Massachusetts Bay.…](https://images.townratings.com/story/4543/bk-8db72ee56384c0d3-l.jpg)
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