Braintree Town dates to 1634, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #201 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House, the Thayer Public Library and the All Souls Church. Its Register listings are the Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House, the Thayer Public Library and the All Souls Church. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Braintree Town’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Braintree Town is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #201 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Braintree Town’s overall grade.
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 Braintree Town’s 0.8 sits below most of its state (7% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1634.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size.
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 Braintree Town’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Braintree was colonized in 1635 and incorporated in 1640. The town is named after the Essex town of Braintree. Its original area split to form the municipalities of Quincy (incorporated in 1792) and Randolph (incorporated in 1793) in the late eighteenth century, after which Randolph split to form the municipality of Holbrook (incorporated in 1872) eight decades later. Braintree was part of Suffolk County until the formation of Norfolk County in 1793.
In 1888, the villages of Braintree and South Braintree were separate communities within the town of Braintree.
In 1920, Braintree was the site of the murders that led to the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti. During that same decade, the town's population grew by more than 50%.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Braintree Town. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1936Blue Hills sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Braintree Town.
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.
Retake this viewThayer Academy, c. 1859
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Braintree Town’s page.
In 1634, according to Wikidata. Braintree Town’s post office opened in 1827, and the first U.S. census counted 2,771 people here in 1790.
How does Braintree Town rank for history?
Braintree Town is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #201 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.
What is on the National Register in Braintree Town?
Three places: the Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House (listed 1974), the Thayer Public Library (1978) and the All Souls Church (2015).
How old are the homes in Braintree Town?
28% of Braintree Town’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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1940
2009
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