Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #79 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 163 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1850.
Hamilton dates its founding to 1638 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamilton is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #79 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 Hamilton’s 222 sits above most of its state (78% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 169 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.
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.
BuiltBrown House is builtBuiltAustin Brown House is built
Born hereMary Abigail Dodge is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSeal of
In the archiveIdlewood picnic grove
Born hereFrancis W. Sargent is born here
In the archiveFirst Congregational Church, Hamilton, Mass
In the archiveLand Utilization Town of Hamilton - DPLA - 27ee76266a71588d26c7122225966a4c
Born hereBo Burnham is born here
Born hereMichael Carter Williams is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hamilton. 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 Hamilton.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hamilton.
In June 1638, John Winthrop the Younger, son of the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, bought most of present-day Essex County from Masconomet, chief of the Agawam Indians, for the sum of twenty English pounds. A memorial stone on Sagamore Hill in southeastern Hamilton marks where Masconomet was buried with his gun and tomahawk around 1658.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hamilton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
average service has been twenty-five years. A double pastorate in the early times seems to have been necessary, because of the extent of territory covered by the parish, including Essex and Hamilton, and the triple labor of catechizing, lecturing and sermonizing. There seems to have been very little colleague service after 1745, about the time the Linebrook and South Parishes were formed.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thorndyke, Nathan Dane, Wm. Bartlett and James Prince. The road began at the blacksmith's shop of Nathaniel " Batchelder " in Beverly, ran by Nathan Brown's in Hamilton, over the "old road" to the stone bridge in Ipswich ; thence through Rowley, over the Parker bridge to Newburyport, — four rods wide, with toll-gates. This road was built in the interest of the town, and it served its purpose well.
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.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 year, then a sheet.
1907Sheet 1 of 8Sanborn 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.
19292009Between 789 and 8,315 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hamilton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Hamilton’s post office has been open since 1803. Another post office, Asbury Grove, 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 1638, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hamilton’s post office opened in 1803, and the census of 1850 counted 889 people here.
Hamilton is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #79 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.
7 listings: 5 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Hamilton Historic District and the Asbury Grove Historic District, with 163 contributing buildings. 169 historic buildings in all.
21% of Hamilton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
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