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History · Baldwinville

58% of Baldwinville’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 2000.

1on the National Register
58%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Baldwinville’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Baldwinville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18877 editions of the USGS map, 1887 to 1988. Watch Baldwinville change.Old housesHalf of Baldwinville’s homes were built before 1938.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1900 to 1912, drew every building in Baldwinville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Baldwinville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBaldwinville, Mass: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Baldwinville on the map, 1887 to 1988

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

Baldwinville on the 1887 USGS mapBaldwinville on the 1890 USGS mapBaldwinville on the 1935 USGS mapBaldwinville on the 1946 USGS mapBaldwinville on the 1954 USGS mapBaldwinville on the 1970 USGS mapBaldwinville on the 1988 USGS map1887Winchendon 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 Baldwinville.

The story so far

Baldwinville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Baldwinville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Baldwinville is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Templeton in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, Baldwinville had a population of 2,117. The name also refers to the local post office or railroad station.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,028 to 2,117 (+4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Baldwinville in 1907

Passages that mention Baldwinville, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Alanson Remington Paine, a prosperous hothouse gardener of the village of Baldwinville, in the town of Templeton, is not only identified with the industrial development of that town, but is also prominent in its civic affairs and a leading spirit among the younger generations of its thrifty residen…
Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity1907 · page 299Read the page →
Read the text

Alanson Remington Paine, a prosperous hothouse gardener of the village of Baldwinville, in the town of Templeton, is not only identified with the industrial development of that town, but is also prominent in its civic affairs and a leading spirit among the younger generations of its thrifty residents.

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

Baldwinville, 1886 to 1900

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886In the archiveBaldwinville, Mass
  3. 1887On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveHospital Cottages for Children
By decade

Baldwinville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s4 items
Baldwinville, Mass1886Baldwinville, MassHospital Cottages for Children1900Hospital Cottages for ChildrenBaldwinville railroad bridge postcard1907–1915Baldwinville railroad bridge postcardPostcardBaldwinville station postcard1907–1915Baldwinville station postcardPostcard
1910s–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
Today2 recent
Corner of Elm and Central2008Corner of Elm and CentralBaldwinville, Mass2008Baldwinville, Mass
Every building

Baldwinville, building by building, 1900–1912

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.

Baldwinville fire insurance map, 1900, sheet 11900Sheet 1 of 7
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Baldwinville, Mass
Retake this viewBaldwinville, Mass, 1886

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 87 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
87
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Baldwinville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00020002020Peak: 2,117

Between 1,852 and 2,117 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Questions about Baldwinville’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.