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A−History
History · Hubbardston

Hubbardston dates to 1767, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #225 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1790.

1767founded
4on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hubbardston’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hubbardston began

When was Hubbardston founded?

1767

Hubbardston dates its founding to 1767 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 934 in 17902020 census: 4,328259 years

How historic is Hubbardston?

A−

More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1810.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hubbardston’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hubbardston is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #225 of 283 in Massachusetts. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hubbardston’s overall grade.
Founding era1767, from Wikipedia: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194015.1% of homes (±5.7) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register4 listings, 9.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 79%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 21%

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 Hubbardston’s 9.2 sits below most of its state (27% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1767.
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 (±5.7 points).

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 Hubbardston’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hubbardston, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1767, 9 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hubbardston’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hubbardston’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewView of a river valley and farms near H…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hubbardston, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500180018501900195020001,825 in 1850Low: 1,010

Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.

19 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hubbardston’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Hubbardston’s post office has been open since 1810. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hubbardston
1810–today
Williamsville
1871–1925
East Hubbardston
1875–1909
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hubbardston StationPitchervilleWilliamsville
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hubbardston
ClarkForest HillNightingalePine GroveRural GlenRural Glen

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Hubbardston came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hubbardston.

Read it all →

Hubbardston, the "Northeast Quarter" of Rutland, was incorporated as a separate district in 1767 and named for Thomas Hubbard (1702–1773), Commissary General of the Province of Massachusetts and Treasurer of Harvard College. It is reported in local history that in view of the honor of giving his name to the town, Hubbard promised to provide the glass for the windows of the first meeting house built in town. To make his liberality more conspicuous, the people planned for extra windows, but when Hubbard died in 1773, his estate was so complicated that the town of Hubbardston received nothing and was obliged to glaze the windows at its own expense.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hubbardston, 1767 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1767
    FoundingHubbardston is established
  3. 1779Born hereEthan Allen Greenwood is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1806In the archiveEdward Augustus Selfridge Goodnow birth in 1806 in
  6. 1810Post officeThe Hubbardston post office opens
  7. 1815Born hereJonas Gilman Clark is born here
  8. 1820BuiltRural Glen Cemetery is built
  9. 1845Born hereFreeman Brown is born here
  10. 1865In the archiveView of a river valley and farms near Hubbardston
  11. 1871Post officeThe Williamsville post office opens
  12. 1874BuiltHubbardston Public Library is built
  13. 1875Post officeThe East Hubbardston post office opens
  14. 20th century
  15. 1909Post officeThe East Hubbardston post office closes
  16. 1925Post officeThe Williamsville post office closes
  17. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  18. 1999In the archiveUSACE Barre Falls Dam
  19. 21st century
  20. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 4,382
By decade

Hubbardston, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1800s1 item
Edward Augustus Selfridge Goodnow birth in 1806 in1806Edward Augustus Selfridge Goodnow birth in 1806 inDocument
1860s1 item
View of a river valley and farms near Hubbardstonc. 1865View of a river valley and farms near Hubbardston
1990s1 item
USACE Barre Falls Dam1999USACE Barre Falls Dam
Today6 recent
Dodge Power Wagon Rusting2018Dodge Power Wagon RustingBalasubramanian 000278 173010 518468 45782017Balasubramanian 000278 173010 518468 4578Kitchen Utensils2013Kitchen UtensilsHubbardstonMA RevSamuelGayHouse2013HubbardstonMA RevSamuelGayHouseMA Route 62 westbound entering2009MA Route 62 westbound enteringFirst Parish Unitarian Church2009First Parish Unitarian Church
On the map

Hubbardston on the map, 1946 to 1988

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hubbardston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hubbardston on the 1946 USGS mapHubbardston on the 1954 USGS mapHubbardston on the 1969 USGS mapHubbardston on the 1975 USGS mapHubbardston on the 1988 USGS map1946Barre sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hubbardston.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

View of a river valley and farms near Hubbardston
Retake this viewView of a river valley and farms near Hubbardston, c. 1865

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hubbardston’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 historic places in Hubbardston

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Rev. Samuel Gay House
Rev. Samuel Gay HouseHubbardston Public Library, built 1874Hubbardston Town Common Historic DistrictRural Glen Cemetery, built 1820
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival2
Federal1
Second Empire1
Italianate1
Gothic1
Queen Anne1
Rev. Samuel Gay HouseFederal
Hubbardston Public LibraryGreek Revival · Built 1874
Hubbardston Town Common Historic DistrictGreek Revival
Rural Glen CemeteryBuilt 1820

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Hubbardston

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ethan Allen GreenwoodAmerican artist · b. 1779
F
Freeman BrownAmerican baseball manager · b. 1845
J
Jonas Gilman ClarkAmerican businessman · b. 1815
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Princeton7 historic placesA+Barre2 historic placesA+Gardner13 historic placesA+Westminster4 historic placesA

Questions about Hubbardston’s history

What year was Hubbardston founded?

In 1767, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hubbardston’s post office opened in 1810, and the first U.S. census counted 934 people here in 1790.

How does Hubbardston rank for history?

Hubbardston is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #225 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.

What is on the National Register in Hubbardston?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Rev. Samuel Gay House (listed 1997, the first), 1 historic district, the Hubbardston Town Common Historic District, with 1 contributing buildings, and 1 site.

How old are the homes in Hubbardston?

15% of Hubbardston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1986.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.