Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #281 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
Most of Granby was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Granby dates its founding to 1727 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
The town is named in honor of John Manners, Marquess of Granby, a hero of the Seven Years' War.
The place name, Granby, refers to a village in Nottinghamshire, taking its name from the personal name Gráni and the Old English suffix bȳ, denoting a farmstead or settlement.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Granby is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #281 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Granby’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.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Granby. 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 Granby.
Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1880, then grew 8-fold.
19 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Granby’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereZenas Ferry Moody is born here
In the archiveWilliam Montague Ferry Photograph
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveMain Altar -- Seminary Chapel, Granby, Mass (72279)From Wikipedia’s history of Granby.
Granby was once part of Hadley, as were other towns, as part of Hadley Equivalent Lands. Old Hadley was first settled in 1659 by people from Hartford and Wethersfield, Connecticut. These settlers left Connecticut because of religious differences within their communities.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Granby, cut from the printed page as they were published.
![Granby was incorporated June 11, 1768, and called a "town," but it had not the privilege of sending a representative until the revolution. Granby was a ]mrt of South Hadley until 1768.* The division line was long a source of much trouble. The people of Granby, excepting a small number of tories, we…](https://images.townratings.com/story/24050/bk-3726a8d40cddffef-l.jpg)
Granby was incorporated June 11, 1768, and called a "town," but it had not the privilege of sending a representative until the revolution. Granby was a ]mrt of South Hadley until 1768.* The division line was long a source of much trouble. The people of Granby, excepting a small number of tories, were patriotic and decided in the revolution, and furnished the men, money, clothing and provisions required of thein.t The town voted Feb. 1775 to call Capt.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
business, and many town officers were elected from these precincts.t After they became districts, they and Hadley met once a year for the choice of a representative to the General Court until the revolution, and Granby, though called a town after 1768, met with them. These towns and districts commonly chose only one representative, and he was generally from the old town, but Daniel Nash of South Hadley was the representative in 1764 and 1765, and Josiah Chauncey of
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019The pink c. 1870 Rimbold family barn in Granby, Massa…
2019The pink c. 1870 Rimbold family barn in Granby, Massa…
2019The Central Pharmacy in Granby, Massachusetts, by Car…
2019It's not even summer yet in Granby, Massachusetts, by…
2019It's not even summer yet in Granby, Massachusetts, by…
2019An old tractor outside a shed next to the large, pink…
2017Amanita frostiana 751358
2016Horse Caves at Mt. Norwottuck (Distance)
2016Horse Caves at Mt. Norwottuck (Close-Up)
2013The Church of Christ Congregational
2013Granby Public Library
2010Grangby MA 5 Corners
2009Kellogg HallNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Granby’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Granby’s post office has been open since 1822.
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 1727, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Granby’s post office opened in 1822, and the first U.S. census counted 596 people here in 1790.
Granby is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #281 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.
5% of Granby’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 1966.
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 (18), 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.
c. 1930
c. 1930
1939