Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Spencer’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spencer is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spencer’s overall grade.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Spencer’s 32.2 sits above most of its state (71% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). Two sources give 1820.
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 →
What stands out about Spencer’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Spencer was platted in 1820, and named for Captain Spier Spencer, who fell at the Battle of Tippecanoe, after whom Spencer County is also named. A post office has been in operation at Spencer since 1821. The current building was constructed with New Deal funds in 1938.
The Allison-Robinson House, David Enoch Beem House, Owen County Courthouse, Spencer Public Library, and Spencer Town Hall and Fire Station are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Downtown events include Christmas at the Square, Apple Butter Festival, Annual Pride Festival, and the Rev20 Christian Music Festival.
Passages that mention Spencer, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year 18601860 · page 41Read the page →
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It will be seen by the provisions of this act,i»that the town of Spencer was especially prohibited from sending a representative of their own, but the inhabitants had the privilege, if they chose, of going to Leicester and voting for some gentleman in that town for the office. This was a kind of partnership, that if the labor and expense were equal, yet the honor and profits were shared by one of the parties only, for during the period of twenty two years, while this
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Historical sketches relating to Spencer, Mass.1901 · page 89Read the page →
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know that they have averaged to furnish for some important town office, more than one representatve per year since 1753. The following is a complete list of those who have held such town offices from the time of the incorporation of the town of Spencer in 1753 to 1901, 148 years. c^ 1 ^ Total years Selectmen. of service.
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History of Spencer, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year 18601860 · page 111Read the page →
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The first Baptist Church in Spencer was constituted June 30, 1819. Their meeting house was buik the next year, 1820, and is situated at the northeast part of the town, near to the line of the town of Paxton. The society is not large and is composed of members from Spencer and the adjoining towns of Kutland and Paxton, and perhaps a few from Leicester and Oakham. Their first minister was the Eev.
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Historical sketches relating to Spencer, Mass.1901 · page 25Read the page →
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10. House owned by the Town of Spencer and occupied by the manager of the filter beds. This was formerly a school house in the South Spencer district.
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.
Timeline
Spencer, 1820 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1820, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Spencer’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1850 counted 335 people here.
How does Spencer rank for history?
Spencer is more historic than 93% 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.
What is on the National Register in Spencer?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Spencer Town Hall and Fire Station (listed 1982, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Spencer?
45% of Spencer’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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