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BHistory
History · Lakeville

Lakeville dates to 1717, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #275 of 283 in Massachusetts. What drives it

Most of Lakeville was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listing is the Town Hall. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.

1717founded
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lakeville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lakeville began, and where its name came from

When was Lakeville founded?

1717

Lakeville dates its founding to 1717 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 1,160 in 18602020 census: 11,523309 years

How did Lakeville get its name?

The town's name comes from the system of lakes in the town, including Assawompset Pond, Great Quittacas Pond, Little Quittacas Pond, Pocksha Pond, and Long Pond.

How historic is Lakeville?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1820. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lakeville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lakeville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #275 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 Lakeville’s overall grade.
Founding era1717, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19407.2% of homes (±1.9) · typical MA town 21.1% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 0.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MA town 46.0 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder
Massachusetts towns of 2,500+ (283)Ahead of 3%

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 Lakeville’s 0.8 sits below most of its state (7% of Massachusetts towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1717.

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 →

What stands out about Lakeville’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Lakeville, and 21 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18858 editions of the USGS map, 1885 to 1997. Watch Lakeville change.Older than the countryEstablished in 1717, 59 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lakeville had its own post office from 1860 to 1927. Another post office, Assawampsett, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Assawampsett
1820–1827
Lakeville
1860–1927
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Buena Vista ShoresCanedys CornerChurchill ShoresFuller ShoresHemlocksHilltop AcresHuckleberry ShoresIndian ShoreLakeside ShoreLakeview HeightsNelsons GroveNelsons ShoresNorth LakevillePine BluffsPine HavenPrecinctSampsons CornerStaples CornerStaples ShoreUpper Four CornersWayside
Gone or out of use
North Lakeville StationlocaleSaint Yues Bog DamdamTurnpike Stationlocale
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lakeville
ClarkHaskinsHowlandMcCullyPiercePondRobbinsStrowbridgeThompson Hill

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

On the map

Lakeville on the map, 1885 to 1997

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

Lakeville on the 1885 USGS mapLakeville on the 1893 USGS mapLakeville on the 1916 USGS mapLakeville on the 1937 USGS mapLakeville on the 1948 USGS mapLakeville on the 1963 USGS mapLakeville on the 1977 USGS mapLakeville on the 1997 USGS map1885Middleboro sheet · 1:62,500

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

Timeline

Lakeville, 1717 to 1934

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1717
    FoundingLakeville is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1820Post officeThe Assawampsett post office opens
  5. 1827Post officeThe Assawampsett post office closes
  6. 1860Post officeThe Lakeville post office opens
  7. 1885On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1893In the archiveAssawompsett Pond Map
  9. 1895Born hereCy Morgan is born here
  10. 20th century
  11. 1927Post officeThe Lakeville post office closes
  12. 1934In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer April, 1934 (a) VIEW F…
The story

How Lakeville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lakeville.

Read it all →

Native Americans inhabited southern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonization of the Americas, and Lakeville is a site with significant indigenous history.

Soewampset is listed as a noted habitation in a 1634 list of settlements in New England, suggesting that Assawompset Pond may take its name from a former Wampanoag settlement on its banks. The Wampanoag Royal Cemetery is located in modern-day Lakeville on a peninsula between Little and Great Quittacas Pond.

ChaptersKing Philip's War18th century to present

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lakeville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Assawompsett Pond Map1893Assawompsett Pond MapMap
1900s–1920snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1930s8 items
Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer April, 1934 (a) VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST - George Ward Ho…1934Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer April, 1934 (b) INTERIOR-PANELED END WEST BED ROOM S…1934Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer Oct. 3, 1936 (b) EXT.-FRONT ENTRANCE - Jennie Sampso…1936Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer Oct. 3, 1936 (c) EXT.-SIDE ENTRANCE - Jennie Sampson…1936Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer Oct. 3, 1936 (e) INT.-PAINTED WALL DECORATION, MAIN …1936Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer Oct. 3, 1936 (f) INT.-DINING ROOM FIREPLACE - Jennie…1936Historic American BUildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer Oct. 3, 1936 (a) EXT.-VIEW, LOOKING EAST - Jennie Sa…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer Oct. 3, 1936 (d) INT.-MAIN STAIRWAY - Jennie Sampson…1936Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell,…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown2 to date
Pocksha PondDate?Pocksha PondSeal ofDate?Seal of
Today9 recent
Tour de Creme Welcome to2017Tour de Creme Welcome toTour de Creme Welcome to Lakeville, MA (cropped)2017Tour de Creme Welcome to Lakeville, MA (cropped)Long Pond2013Long PondOld Lakeville Public Library, MA2009Old Lakeville Public Library, MALakeville Station 12009Lakeville Station 1Lakeville Old Town Hall2009Lakeville Old Town HallFlickr - DVIDSHUB - Massachusetts National Guard Activity2007Flickr - DVIDSHUB - Massachusetts National Guard Acti…Lakeville MA Town Hall2004Lakeville MA Town HallLakeville Assawomsett2004Lakeville Assawomsett
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.

Historic American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer April, 1934 (a) VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST - George Ward Ho…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer April, 1934 (a) VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST - George Ward Ho…, 1934

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Lakeville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Town Hall
Town Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Town HallGreek Revival

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

People over time

Lakeville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00019001950200011,523

Grew from 1,160 people in 1860 to 11,523 in 2020, 9 times over.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Lakeville’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Arth…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Middleborough8 historic placesA+North Lakeville1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTaunton97 historic placesA+Freetown2 historic placesAMiddleborough Center5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lakeville’s history

What year was Lakeville founded?

In 1717, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lakeville’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1860 counted 1,160 people here.

How does Lakeville rank for history?

Lakeville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #275 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 Lakeville?

One place: the Town Hall (listed 1976).

How old are the homes in Lakeville?

7% of Lakeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 21% for a Massachusetts town; the median home was built in 1984.

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 (20), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.