Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1814.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Halifax’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Halifax is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #274 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Halifax’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 Halifax’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). Two sources give 1669.
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 →
What stands out about Halifax’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Halifax was first settled by Europeans, most notably the Bosworth family from Bosworth Fields in England, in 1669, growing with lumbering and agriculture. It was officially separated from the town of Plympton and incorporated in 1734, and was named for Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The town was part of an early effort to create a canal between Buzzards Bay and Massachusetts Bay, when in 1795 a canal was proposed between the Taunton River and North River; the plan never succeeded, although the town's sawmills continued to grow, as did cranberry production, iron furnaces and a wool mill. The railroad came in the nineteenth century, providing access for people from the city to the shores of Silver Lake and the Monponsett Ponds. Today the town is mostly residential, with a small retail area growing at the center of town.
Passages that mention Halifax, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the early settlement of Bridgewater in Plymouth county, Massachusetts, including an extensive Family register1897 · page 115Read the page →
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on the grand jury 1653 : he had Mary 1640, Priscilla 1643, Sarah 1646, Abigail 1647, Hannah 1649, Joseph 165 i, Hester 1653, Lydia 1655, Rebeckah 1657, James 1660 ; all b. at Barnstable. — Austin Bearce was at Halifax, probably a descendant of the above, and went to Cornwall. — Andrew Bearce of Halifax m. Margaret Dawes of E. B. 1736. — Consider Bearce of Halifax m.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1656-18941895 · page 776Read the page →
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About 1820 the facilities for the transmission of news were increased by the establishment of a stage route, of which Silas Packard of North Bridgewater, Seth Allen of Halifax, Capt. N. H. Cross of East Bridgewater and Capt. Asa Pratt of South Bridgewater were part owners. The stage was a two-horse carriage, formerly the property of Governor Phillips. It started from Bridgewater and ran to l^oston three times a week. This coach line changed hands several times during the next few years, and finally came into the possession of Messrs. Newton
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the early settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth county, Massachusetts, including an extensive Family register1840 · page 31Read the page →
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" And from the extent of this seven miles of those on the north, those on the east are to begin on the north line, and to run a line due south till it meets with Mr. Alexander Standish's land, or Middleborough (now Halifax) bounds. All the lands lying easterly betwixt the above said line so run, and the line that was run by the agents of Bridgewater and Middleborough, (now Halifax,) and the Major's purchase, (now Hanson,) belongeth to these fifteen men whose names and lots as they fell
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
Halifax, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. 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.
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 1669, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Halifax’s post office opened in 1814, and the first U.S. census counted 664 people here in 1790.
How does Halifax rank for history?
Halifax is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #274 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.
How old are the homes in Halifax?
13% of Halifax’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (6), 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.
1891
1934
1934