1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1822.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Chilmark’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chilmark is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chilmark’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 Chilmark’s 63.4 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1660.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points).
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 Chilmark’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Governor Thomas Mayhew, the Elder (March 31, 1593 – March 25, 1682), established the first English settlement of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and adjacent islands in 1642. The town was officially incorporated on September 14, 1694, the first town to separate from the two original towns of Tisbury and Edgartown. The new town was named for Chilmark, the ancestral home of the family of Governor Thomas Mayhew of Tisbury, in the English county of Wiltshire. In 1714, Chilmark was made a township including the island of Nomans Land.
Passages that mention Chilmark, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts1911 · page 147Read the page →
Read the text
fully considered, the following law was enacted Dec. 30, 1736: Ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be so far granted as that the pet'rs with their Estates lying in the place Mentioned be and hereby are to all Intents and purposes Set off from the Town of Chilmark and Annexed to the Town of Tisbury for the future; provided the pet'rs be and hereby are held and subjected to the payment of all Rates & Taxes what soever which have hitherto been Assessed on them by the Town of Chilmark, or otherwise by Order of Law.^
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts1911 · page 42Read the page →
Read the text
Owing to its peculiar legal status Chilmark had no corporate existence as a township for many years. In a law of 1697 it is called the "Town of Chilmark," but this was an error, due to lack of information on the subject on the part of the General Court. ^ Still the inhabitants, as -early as 1696, were organized into a body politic and had chosen selectmen for that year.* This situation lasted until 1714, when a petition was presented to the General Court for incorporation. The
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.
By decade
Chilmark, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1780s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1660, according to Wikidata. Chilmark’s post office opened in 1822, and the first U.S. census counted 771 people here in 1790.
How does Chilmark rank for history?
Chilmark is more historic than 85% 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 Chilmark?
One place: the Barn House (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Chilmark?
14% of Chilmark’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (24), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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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