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B+History
History · Ashby

Ashby dates to 1676, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #249 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1790.

1676founded
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ashby’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ashby began

When was Ashby founded?

1676

Ashby dates its founding to 1676 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 751 in 17902020 census: 3,193350 years

How historic is Ashby?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1819.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ashby’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashby is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #249 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ashby’s overall grade.
Founding era1676, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194026.1% of homes (±6.0) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MA town 46.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 12%

Massachusetts towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Massachusetts town has 46.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ashby’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (3% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). Two sources give 1676.

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 Ashby’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18877 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1988. Watch Ashby change.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1850 and 1890, then grew 3-fold.Older than the countryEstablished in 1676, 100 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · On the map

Ashby on the map, 1887 to 1988

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashby. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Ashby on the 1887 USGS mapAshby on the 1893 USGS mapAshby on the 1935 USGS mapAshby on the 1946 USGS mapAshby on the 1950 USGS mapAshby on the 1965 USGS mapAshby on the 1988 USGS map1887Fitchburg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ashby.

People over time

Ashby, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500180018501900195020001,208 in 1850Low: 825

Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1890, then grew 3-fold.

19 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashby’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Ashby, 1676 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1676
    FoundingAshby is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1819Post officeThe Ashby post office opens
  5. 1844Born hereLisa Anne Fletcher is born here
  6. 1875Born hereAldrich Bowker is born here
  7. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1889In the archiveAtlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Geo. H. Walker & Co., 1889, from the Digital…
  9. 20th century
  10. 1912In the archiveOldest house
  11. 1939In the archiveLand Utilization Town of Ashby - DPLA - 1e08c2b9b91f0b4452e867c73351b770
  12. 21st century
  13. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,193
The story

How Ashby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ashby.

Read it all →

Ashby was first settled in 1676 and was officially incorporated in 1767. The town was formed from portions of Townsend, Lunenburg, Fitchburg, and Dorchester-Canada (a portion of Ashburnham). One of the earliest settlers of the town was John Fitch. Fitch was kidnapped by Native Americans in 1748 and was held hostage for six months. Fitch died in 1795 with his surviving children remaining in the community. The John Fitch Monument, known to most at the "monument", is located at the intersection of South and Richardson roads, stands to this day and was recently cleaned up by volunteers in 2021. Though some mills existed in the town, the community remained primarily an agricultural one with the majority of land being used for farming in the 1700s and 1900s. Ashby was at one time home to numerous apple orchards, the remnants of which can be found in the woods behind present day houses.

ChaptersBackgroundPlaces of InterestRecent HistoryOther

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Ashby, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1930s4 items
Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Geo. H. Walker & Co., 1889, from the Digital Commonwealth - 118 commonweal…1889Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Geo. H. …MapAtlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Geo. H. Walker & Co., 1889, from the Digital Commonwealth - 121 commonweal…1889Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Geo. H. …MapOldest house1912Oldest houseLand Utilization Town of Ashby - DPLA - 1e08c2b9b91f0b4452e867c73351b7701939Land Utilization Town of Ashby - DPLA - 1e08c2b9b91f0…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Asa Kendall House, South RoadDate?Asa Kendall House, South Road
Today5 recent
Ashby-Damon-Pond-Sign2022Ashby-Damon-Pond-SignAshby-aerial-photo-toward-center2020Ashby-aerial-photo-toward-centerAshby-Bonfire-7-3-20192019Ashby-Bonfire-7-3-2019Rensselaer Valve "L90A" Fire Hydrant2015Rensselaer Valve "L90A" Fire HydrantMa towns2006Ma towns
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Oldest house
Retake this viewOldest house, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ashby’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Ashby

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Aldrich BowkerAmerican stage- and film actor · b. 1875
Lisa Anne FletcherAmerican poet, correspondent · b. 1844
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Ashby’s post office has been open since 1819.

Hamlets and corners on the map
South Village
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ashby
Ashby First ParishGlenwoodWest

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Ashby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ashby’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOldest house: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ashburnham3 historic placesAFitchburg10 historic placesA+TownsendIts storyBLunenburg1 historic placeA

Questions about Ashby’s history

What year was Ashby founded?

In 1676, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ashby’s post office opened in 1819, and the first U.S. census counted 751 people here in 1790.

How does Ashby rank for history?

Ashby is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #249 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Ashby?

26% of Ashby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1970.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (2), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.