Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #136 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
15 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and three historic districts with 164 buildings between them. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.
Duxbury dates its founding to 1624 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Duxbury is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #136 of 283 in Massachusetts. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Duxbury’s 109 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 177 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born herePeleg Wadsworth is born hereBuiltAlexander Standish House is builtBuiltCapt. Gershom Bradford House is builtBuiltCapt. Gamaliel Bradford House is builtBuiltFirst Parish Church is built
In the archiveThe landing
In the archiveDuxbury Harbor Improvements
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBlue Fish River, Duxbury, Mass
In the archiveFlag of
In the archiveNorth Side of Powder Point
Born hereStet Howland is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Duxbury.
The area now known as Duxbury was inhabited by people as early as 12,000 to 9,000 BCE. By the time European settlers arrived there, the region was inhabited by the Wampanoags, who called it Mattakeesett, meaning "place of many fish."
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Duxbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Abraham Sampson, 1682. North River Bridge. A cart bridge was ordered to be built over the North River, near Barstow's foot bridge, by Scituate, Marshfield and Duxbury ; and Duxbury was then freed from any longer repairing Jones River bridge. The cost was for Scituate £10, for Marshfield and Duxbury £5 each ; but Mannamoiett was to bear 20s. of Duxbury's part.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Grant of Bridgevvater to the Inhabitants of Duxbury, was made to the following: persons, at that time (1645) of conrse residing in Duxbury, and they form the original proprietors of Bridgewater. Many of them removed thither, while others conveyed their grams to their sons, who settled there, and others sold, or otherwise disposed of them.
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.
5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1869The landing1872Duxbury Harbor Improvements1898Blue Fish River, Duxbury, MassPostcard
1898Captain's Hill, Duxbury, Mass., - Myles Standish Hous…Postcard
1898Grave of Myles Standish, Duxbury, MassPostcard
1898John Alden House, 1653, Duxbury, MassPostcard
1898Miles Standish Monument, Duxbury, MassPostcard
1898Myles Standish Monument, Duxbury, MassPostcard
1898Myles Standish Monument, Plymouth, MassPostcard
1898Standish House, 1666, Duxbury, MassPostcard
1898Standish House, 1666, Duxbury, MassPostcardEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Duxbury. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Duxbury.
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 sheet.
1915Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Drag across each photo to compare.
1898TodayLost a third of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Duxbury’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Duxbury’s post office has been open since 1800. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1624, according to Wikidata. Duxbury’s post office opened in 1800, and the first U.S. census counted 1,457 people here in 1790.
Duxbury is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #136 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.
15 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 10 buildings, among them the Alden, John and Priscilla, Family Sites (a National Historic Landmark since 2008), and the Capt. Gershom Bradford House (listed 1978, the first), 3 historic districts, the Old Shipbuilder's Historic District, the Cove Street Historic District and the Old Town Hall Historic District, with 164 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 177 historic buildings in all.
15% of Duxbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1976.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (15), 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.
